Yesterday, while I was at a local park running with my husband, a car sped by us filled with teenagers.
As they went passed, one of them yelled something out the window. I am pretty sure it was something not so nice and probably involved the very reason why I was running in the first place.
My husband didn’t hear the same thing I heard which makes me wonder if they were even talking to me in the first place.
Now ordinarily I would never have paid the kids any attention. After all kids, and especially the teenage version of them, can be very mean and honest. They have yet to develop the filter that many adults hopefully have in place that keeps us from saying the meanest things to people such as asking a woman if she is pregnant.
Side note: Please never ask a woman if she is pregnant, even if it is quite clear that she is. I know several friends now who have had this happen. First if you are a stranger, it’s none of your business, and second you could be asking a potentially damaging question if it turns out your presumption was wrong. If you are not a stranger, then just wait as she is bound to tell you herself when she feels like it.
Okay, back to my original story. This whole thing is still haunting me this morning and I am not exactly sure why so, of course, I am doing the only thing that I know to do when I am burdened after talking to my heavenly daddy about it first of course.
I am writing about it.
How many times do we hear insults, negative comments, or put-downs throughout our day as women?
You can’t escape it. And after being hit repeatedly with lies, some of them have the opportunity to stick as we begin to believe them ourselves. What may have started off as a rude comment from someone, can easily take root and become something we start to say to ourselves if we aren’t careful.
We are bombarded daily with the message that we are not good enough even when we know that God has formed us and hand-chosen every part of us, seen and unseen. Do we believe somehow that God makes defective junk that needs to be fixed?
I know that for myself, whenever I start to listen more to the lies it makes it very hard for me to believe the truth of what God has to say about me.
Who Am I?
I am radiant – Ps. 34:5
I am enlightened – Eph. 1:18
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm – Eph. 2:6
I am God’s workmanship – Eph. 2:10
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – Phil. 4:13
I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. – 2 Tim. 1:7
I am a wellspring of life – Prov. 4:23
I am the object of his love. – Song. 4:9
I am my Beloved’s and his desire is towards me. – Song. 7:10
I have a new heart and God’s spirit lives in me. -Ez. 36:26
Get the printable version of this here.
You can also get an edited printable version of this without the Saving Dollars and Sense logo. @Sadie had a great idea that these could make great gifts if you print them on cardstock and frame them, so I did my best to make a version that would work for that.
I have this sitting on my dresser so that it is something I can easily remind myself of as I am getting ready for the day. I suggest printing it on cardstock and placing it someplace you’ll see each morning to remind yourself of who you really are. This will help you be strong when the lies start flying your way throughout the day!
Is it possible that these words we have floating around in our heads are nothing more than lies disguised by the enemy as our own thoughts to keep us from living in the fullness that God has for us?
My favorite book on this topic is called You Are Special by Max Lucado.
If you have never read it, I highly recommend it to all people. Don’t let the fact that it is a children’s book to fool you, this is a message that we all need to hear loud and clear!
My prayer for you today is that you will begin to recognize the lies from the truth regarding yourself and how God sees you!
Cindy C. says
These are great reminders and I’m thankful you post them. They always seem to come at the perfect time!! Someone told me I was snide in an email tonight and that bothered me so much. I can be very snide…but I was actually trying to be nice. lol Sigh.
Linda Dietz says
Thank you for sharing your knowledge & talent in the way of this printout! I have a young friend who will be celebrating 6 months of sobriety soon & this will make a perfect gift for her! Our Heavenly Father’s good opinion of us is the only one that really matters. As the world continues to spin out of control…throwing off all vestiges of His control, a rude comment may well be the least of our concerns. I actually feel sorry for kids such as the ones you described for God knows them but it seems they don’t know Him. Good chance they are being led down the very wide road at the speed of light…and without a course correction…the future does not bode well for them. Think I’ll life them up in prayer tonight. (Wouldn’t it be fun to see what goes on in the Heavenlies when God’s people pray?) Thank you again. You are a blessing to many!
Robin Coleman-Cornelius says
Amazing advice as a mom of 2 , I always find myself telling the kids they are a work in progress and when I do that I find myself forgetting that I am, myself, also a work in progress. Thanks for this wonderful reminder!