Not Junk
How do you think of yourself?
Growing up I was taught that I should always deflect praise. If someone said "you are such a good singer" I should say "God gave me my voice I can't take any credit" or if they said "you are a great cook" I should say "my parent's taught me well" But if I were to say "Thank you" and leave it at that it was a sign of pride.
The thing is I actually see that a lot (in women particularly) We have a really hard time hearing positive things about ourselves and believing it. It has crossed my mind more than once that a compliment was being used to manipulate me. But the problem was that I didn't believe the compliment spoken about me. I had allowed myself to listen to lies that the enemy told me about myself.
You aren't smart
You are a failure
You are too emotional
You are too cold
You are too much
You are not enough
The lies didn't even have to be consistent for me to believe them.
Honestly God has been dealing with me about this for awhile. But I was seeing myself through the eyes of young me. The wrong things I was taught and told about myself. My value and my worth actually have nothing to do with me. Anything I did, didn't do, say, don't say, am, am not. All come from the one who made me. He formed every part of me I love Psalm 139 it says "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-how well I know it...You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered" He made me and my complexity. He knew everything I would be and he loves that person.
So if his thoughts about me are precious. Mine should be too. And the same goes for you. If you allow yourself to see yourself the way God sees you what will you think of yourself? How will you speak about yourself? For me, I am wise, I am beautiful, I have a beautiful singing voice, I am a good wife, mom, friend, daughter, I am enough. God made each one of us the way we are for a reason and we may never know the reason. But I'm hoping we can start a wave of people loving themselves as they are because God made them that way.
So, how do you think of yourself?
Great post!
ReplyDeleteYesterday I was reading Romans 1 and was meditating on verse 20, which says:
"For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."....
I always applied it to and thought of nature, due to my love of it. But yesterday I saw something different that I hadn't seen before that could apply to your post. Which was "Through EVERYTHING GOD MADE, they can clearly see his invisible qualities". That phrase includes us.
Therefore, we as his creation demonstrate and reflect all His invisible qualities. We were made and designed to.
So as I read your post, it made me think of this. When people comment you, me or us about anything good we can do. It should be a reminder that " Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."