"REAL isn't how your are made"

"Real isn't how your are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

I read this book to my daughter recently and realized what the Skin Horse had to say is so true in a Spiritual sense too! I find myself thinking about Jesus and all the things He went through for us. Bit by bit, not all at once, Christ suffered and not only broke, but even died so He could be Real to us. So often I find myself not wanting to break or have sharp edges and I want to be carefully kept. In order to be Real, though, you must allow yourself to become hurt and loose in the joints because that's when you will be able to understand the love of Christ.