What Do You Believe About Yourself?

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Do you ever see an outfit on a mannequin and think, “That’s so cute but I could never pull it off”?   Maybe you love the idea of going to the beach, but when you get there your mind won’t stop critiquing your bathing suit body. 

Perhaps you’re about to start school.  Your gut feels a twinge of excitement for the new year, but you’re anxious about fitting in.  Your head lays on your pillow at night trying to sleep, but your mind can’t stop imagining social situations and conversations.  Will BEING you will BE enough?  Maybe you should BECOME someone else for the sake of friends and popularity.  

Secretly, you wish what all of us do; that people will accept the real you. 

But, who are you?  What do you believe about yourself?

Our days are filled with moments of soulful definition.  A conversation leaves you encouraged or let down.  A soccer game cultivates or crushes your confidence.  Getting dressed in the morning may leave you delighted or deflated.  Each of these moments gives your mind the opportunity to discover what you believe about yourself. 

While it’s perfectly natural for our minds and souls to function this way, as Christians, there is a more important voice we should listen to.  Jesus wants to take care of your soul when you feel like it’s getting ripped apart, but he can’t if you don’t give him permission or attention.  He will help you sift through your thoughts and emotions discerning the difference between truth and lie, freeing you from disillusionment and fear.

A friend of mine felt invaluable, used up, insecure, and as a result, not beautiful. 

In high school and college, her friends found healthy and godly relationships often ending in marriage.  But, her opportunity never came.  This unfulfilled longing pressured her to bury any desire for love. 

“You don’t need a guy”, her heart spoke. “You’re better off alone.”

She tried to do her soul a favor by locking the door to any hope of feeling treasured or pursued by a man. She told herself that her lack of relationship was spiritual in nature, but actually her past encounters with abuse, and moments of being overlooked and feeling unattractive to boys caused her to write off any hope of marriage. 

Truthfully, she didn’t want to be alone.  Honestly, she wanted Jesus to provide someone.  But it seemed easier to suppress disappointment than to admit her insecurities were holding her desires captive.

After years of hurt, Jesus helped her face the pain her heart was suppressing.  She wrote this in her journal one morning:  

“When I stand in front of a mirror,

I am responsible for what I believe about my body.”

For the first time, she realized it wasn’t Jesus asking her to deny her desires for relationship.  Instead, she had embraced a lie.  Because she didn’t feel beautiful or worth pursuing, she couldn’t love herself, much less imagine herself marriage material.  When she realized she had allowed negative experiences define her what she believed about herself instead of Jesus, she had to let him teach her how to redefine her beliefs about herself.

Psalm 25:5 says, “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my God and my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” It’s not easy to let God redefine our beliefs.  But, how much more victory we would have over our insecurities if we would let Jesus guide us through them instead of covering them up?

Tangible Take-Away:

• Take time today to list out some beliefs you have about yourself- the good, the bad and the ugly.
• Pray and ask Jesus to help you see whether these are truths he has given you, or lies you have believed about yourself.
• Meditate on Psalm 139:1-18

Offer It Up:

“Daddy, there are so many lies we believe about ourselves that we have trouble recognizing.  Guide us into truth and teach us how you really see us and how we should see ourselves.  Help our hope to be in you and not other people.”

© 2014 by Sharie King.  All rights reserved.

Sweet Tweet:

• Psalm 31:3, “Since you are my rock and fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”
• Jesus will care of your soul when it’s getting ripped apart, but he can’t if you don’t give him permission.

• Imagine the victory we'd experience if we let Jesus guide us through our insecurities instead of covering them up?