There are alot of times in life where we can be hard on ourselves. The tough love talks. They may help sometimes, but not always. Especially if that tough love is given in constant, negative doses. I’m one who use to always do that. I thought I was being positive but I was actually beating myself down. I’ve struggled with guilt for as long as I can remember. And the thing about guilt is it can never let you forget. That is, if you allow it. That was me. I could never let go of what I did over and over again. And pretty quickly I began to see myself as forgettable, unimportant, sad, lonely and very depressed. I can remember me feeling sad all the time. No one ever really knowing how I felt on the inside because I became really good at masking it. Especially around church people,cause that’s just stuff no one wants to ever talk about. I tell you this story about me to narrate the effects our words have on our behavior. So how do we make sure we don’t allow our words of tough love to shade our brilliance inside?
Remember the Power of Words (Proverbs 11:17 – “Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.”) Seems like a small thing. Words. ‘Sticks and stones’ they talk about, right? So if you want to shine as God intended, then your words are a way to do it. For yourself and others. We have so much to offer those around us and it starts with how we see ourselves, If we see ourselves as worthless, as lonely, as dumb, as scared, then that’s who we become. But God chose us to stand out. Don’t sell yourself short by what you tell yourself.
Remember How God Thinks of You Psalm 139:17 – How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them. The Lord’s thought of us will never change, just as his word will never change (Isaiah 55:11) He will never come up empty with word of wisdom, encouragement, and strength for you. The Lord is always keeping in mind the needs of his people just as we should follow his example and keep in mind of the commandments of the Lord. He knows all about us and knows we are broken and weak and is always lifting us up in more ways than one. He gives us His spirit, His word, His peace, His love.
Remember Whose You Are John 1:12 – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, We have the right as God’s children to reach out to him and know that he will answer. He wants us to come to him. He wants us to bring all our cares to him and our gifts. he created us in his image to do some powerful things in his name and we can do those things because we are his and he gifted us with so much. Tailoring those talents to just the right persons. When we receive all that God is, and understand his thoughts of us will never change and know that what we say shapes our behavior and actions, we can begin to stand stronger against those thoughts that try to break us down. Cause when those words break us down they overshadow God’s light in us and can stall our growth and our witness. Don’t be your own worst enemy and keep yourself from being a blessing. We are blessed to be a blessing. Lets stir up the good stuff that is us and remember to speak with words that will build us up in the Lord, for the Lord.