Who am I? Do you wonder that about yourself sometimes? Recently, I have found a peace in my heart that I have not known before. I have placed my efforts on speaking and thinking good about myself, rather than bad. Negative thoughts can destroy a person’s relationship with people and, ultimately, God.
Have you ever stopped and thought that when we speak badly about ourselves, we are actually insulting God? He created each of us individually and special. Would you stop and criticize a piece of art in front of the artist? It took me a while to realize that not only am I bringing myself down when I criticize myself, but I am also bringing God down.
We are also bringing God down when we dwell on our mistakes. He gave His life for our sins. He gave up His throne. We have been washed clean and yet we act as if we are still unclean. Wasn’t His death enough for us? Isaiah 53:3-5 says, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
God knows we cannot be perfect. He offers His Son to us, who is perfect, to erase our imperfection. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God offers us eternal life for free, no matter where we have been or what we have done. This verse does not say that there are exceptions to the gift. It is everyone’s gift. Our only part in this gift is receiving it.
Ephesians chapter one is an incredible chapter. It reminds us who we are. Ephesians 1: 4-8 says, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will- to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Emphasis mine.) God knew who we would be before creation. He chose to create us, fully knowing the mistakes we would make.
When our mind is consumed with negative thoughts about ourselves, we find that our life is extremely miserable. Our mind is truly a battlefield. We battle negative thoughts every day. We are so afraid of what others think about us, but we don’t realize that we think worse of ourselves than anyone else does. I have started feeling better about myself and have noticed a change in my heart towards others. When we think horrible thoughts about ourselves we automatically think that everyone else thinks that about us too. We distance ourselves from people, thinking they dislike us for our imperfections.
My childhood was full of abuse. I thought that my behavior was the reason I was being beaten. I did not realize that there was something wrong with my parents, not me.
I grew up having a guilty conscience, thinking everything was my fault. I was not very happy. I was living in agreement with Satan, who was, and still is, feeding me lies about myself.
One of the biggest steps I had to take towards healing was to stop tormenting myself. I am God’s precious child. I am loved and redeemed. I have been saved through His sacrifice. I understand that no man alive can ever be perfect. God accepts us with our imperfections.
I encourage you to write your own creed of who you are. Here’s an example:
My Creed
I am loved by God. I am not perfect, but I am accepted anyway. It does not matter what I do, but it is who I am in Christ. I am precious in God’s eyes. I am free from the bondage of sin. I am His unique creation. I am pleasing to Him. I have been saved from sin through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. When He was tormented, He persevered because He loves me. I am redeemed. I am pure. I am God’s child. I am God’s child, child of a King, THE King.
When I look in the mirror, automatically bad thoughts about myself start popping up. However, I can replace these thoughts with godly thoughts. I can say out loud, “God created me unique. He loves me no matter what I’ve done, where I’ve been, or what I look like. I am acceptable and pleasing to Him because of His Son.” I know it may seem silly to say it out loud at first, but you would be amazed how much it helps.
We cannot understand His perfect, unconditional love, but we can accept it. While we are speaking words of hatred toward ourselves, God is speaking words of love. Nothing we do will ever make Him love us anymore, or any less.
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