Author and theologian Russell Moore described noticing the eerie silence in the Russian orphanage where he adopted his boys. Someone later explained that the babies had stopped crying because they learned that no one would respond to their cries.
Attachment theory helps bring an understanding of how critical our early childhood experiences form how we relate to others. According to psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby, a child’s early relationship with their caregivers forms the way this child will approach social interactions and relationships throughout life.
The concept is relatively easy to grasp. When a baby is born, the first social bond they encounter is with the caregivers (in most cases, parents). This is when the child’s brain starts to form a perception of social interactions.
When a child perceives that his or her needs are not met, the child is not able to build a secure and stable bond with the caregivers. This leads to a distorted perception of how relationships work.
Think about how that might translate into our ability to relate to God. Some people may feel God is distant or even have abandoned them to a cruel world set only on a self-centered life. As if to say, “there’s no one that cares. I’m alone out here. I need to make life work on my own terms.”
Thankfully the opposite is true. God cares for us and loves us beyond comprehension.
“… so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19, emphasis added)
Hold onto this truth today. You’re not abandoned, and you don’t have to make life work on your own. You are loved by God beyond measure.
And that’s the Memo.
Steve
