Insecurity: The Lies and the Truth of It.عينة

What are your favorite features about yourself? 

What are your favorite personality traits?

What are your best talents?

Is it hard to answer these questions?

If you were doing this study with others, would you answer these questions aloud, with confidence?

Probably not, right?

Because somewhere along the way, we lose sight of who we are.  We allow the negative words of others to seep in and drown our self-esteem. We hold on to the hurtful things that people say and that becomes our reality. It becomes the lens that we see things through. We allow those words to define us. 

Genesis 1:26 – tells us that we were made in the image of God but theologians say that the way that the scripture translates, it actually means that we were made as the image of GOD.  

>Do you view yourself as someone who was created as the image of GOD?

>Would it make a difference in how you talk about yourself?

>Would it make a difference in how you think about yourself?

I have two teenage daughters and a stepson. Yes, please pray for me because raising teenage girls is straight-up hard. When I catch them saying negative things out loud about themselves, I tell them “don’t talk about my daughter like that.”  They, of course, typically give me an eye roll (insert teenage status) and we move on.  But my hope is that they see WHO’S they are.  They are God’s children, created in HIS image. 

Just like you. You are God’s child, created in his Image.  And God’s creation is beautiful. You are beautiful. 

So today, practice saying this out loud (yes, it’s awkward, but just try it): God, today I won’t talk negatively about myself, your daughter, because you’ve created me in your image and your creation is beautiful.