Walking With Christ

Psalm 139:13-14 (13)For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. (14)I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.(ESV)

Recognize your worth!

Yesterday, I spoke about personal boundaries and showed that these are patterned by God Himself. I think that most people understand that they can have boundaries, and in most cases they do have some boundaries. The problem that I see most often is that people do not fully define the boundaries that are set. As discussed yesterday, boundaries define what we will not do and what we will not tolerate. Many Christians fail to apply those same boundaries to themselves. We won’t tolerate abuse from others yet we constantly abuse ourselves. We may fight back against external abuse while simultaneously embracing and even encouraging self-harm.

Self-talk is a slippery slope that goes from saying “well, that was a mistake” to “I’m a mistake” in just a few short steps. How we talk about and to ourselves is very much a sign of what’s in our hearts. Listening to the quiet lies that the enemy whispers in our ears to poison our thoughts about ourselves is one of the quickest ways to give the enemy a seat at our table. The rest of our journey with God may be an example for all of mankind but, if we still struggle in this area then we have more work to do.

I, personally, struggle with this more than just about anything else in my life. I was abandoned by the ones responsible for informing my first views of my self-worth. They made excuses for not being there and tried to justify it by simply saying that this is what was best. It was best for them. Yes, this is a gross over-simplification of why things were the way they were, but the essence of the history remains. My parents did not feel capable of raising me considering their own problems. They passed me along to people who only took me in out of a sense of duty. There was no love there. They even told me that. Fear outweighed the potential for love. This is a generational curse that I intend to break. I understand why my parents did what they did. I don’t blame them even if I see their words as little more than excuses to avoid the responsibility of raising me. I’m on the other side of their decision, and it’s only through the raising of my own children that I was able to mature enough to see the full picture.

Each and every one of us was created in God’s image. This means that we are not accidents. Our value is intrinsic, given by God—based on achievements, possessions, or the opinions of others. God felt that each of us was worth creating which means that we should treat ourselves as someone who is worthy of love and care because that is truly how God sees each of us. It is vital that we reject any thoughts that diminish our value, recognizing them as lies that contradict God’s truth.