Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything.
But because you say so, I will let down the nets." Luke 5:5 (NIV)
Critical people stink!
They can hurt us, make rude comments, judge our decisions, talk about what we’re doing wrong, and rarely have anything nice to say. One way to deal with them is to stop being around them. But this is hard to do when the critical person is YOU.
Sometimes the most powerful voice that we believe is the critical voice inside our own heads. And we can’t get away from us.
· “I can’t.”
· “I’m not good enough.”
· “I’m not smart enough.”
· “I’m not pretty enough.”
· “I’m not thin enough.”
· “I’m too much for people.”
· “My personality is too strong.”
· “I’m too shy.”
· “I will never amount to anything.”
· “God can never love someone like me.”
· “Who do I think that I am?”
· “I am a failure.”
These are just some of the lies which like to frolic freely in our minds because we allow our brains to become cantankerous playgrounds for self-defeating aphorisms.
The lies could have come from our childhood. An adult may have said that we will never amount to anything and we believe it. They’re adults. They know best, right?
Your father may have told you in the sixth grade the dress you were wearing made you look pregnant and now you are self-conscious about your weight. (Yep, that happened.)
The lies can be our way of sounding humble. “Oh, she is so much more (fill in the blank) than I. Let her do it. It’s ok. She will do it better than me anyway.”
You may have compared yourself to the pretty, smart, thin girl with gorgeous hair in high school who got all of the guys and went to an Ivy League university, became a lawyer, married a rich, handsome man and you’re over here just trying to live your best life in an over-sized T-shirt, covered in baby spit up, with your hair up in a messy bun, hoping you will be able to take a shower and maybe put on a bra today.
Maybe you find yourself defining who you are by your past mistakes. We love to beat ourselves up and give ourselves a life sentence of misery because of something we have done a looong time ago.
Whatever the cause of the lies that we believe, the enemy of our souls would love to make us think we are not enough and keep us handcuffed to him.
And then there’s God.
God has proven himself over and over to be faithful and loving. He has never turned his back on us and never let us down. E.V.E.R!
He has shown he loves us exactly the way we are AND loves us too much to let us stay that way. Why do we believe the critical, self-damnation over his truth? Probably because if we believed God’s truth, we would be responsible to act on it. And that’s scary. He might want us to step out of our comfort zone. Yikes!
Because you said so… I will believe who you say that I am.
Because you love me, and gave your life for me, you deserve to be believed.
YOU DESERVE TO BE BELIEVED!
Because you said so, I will believe:
I am loved:
This is real love-not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10)
I am enough:
But, by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:10)
I am beautiful:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
I am free from condemnation:
So now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
I am never alone:
God is in the midst of her; she shall not me moved; God will help her when morning dawns. (Psalm 46:5)
I have value:
She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. (Proverbs 3:15)
I am made in the image of God:
Put on your new nature, created to be like God-truly righteous and holy.
I am who you say that I am:
chosen, adopted, blessed, holy, blameless, loved, daughter, redeemed, forgiven, have purpose, united and included with Christ, predestined, sealed, have inheritance, have a spirit of wisdom, enlightened, have calling, have mighty power and strength. (Ephesians 1)
“Now with the voice of truth and power of God—armed on the right and armed on the left with righteousness from God—we continue. (2 Corinthians 6:7)
Lord, because You Said So, I will…believe I am who you say that I am.
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