The Gratitude Shift - Embracing Six Gifts You Already HaveSample

Gift 5: THE GIFT OF WHO YOU ARE

The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Zephaniah 3:17 NASB

You have the gift of you.

If I asked you to tell me some of the hurtful words in your life, you would probably respond immediately. Somebody said something once or repeatedly that has negatively shaped how you see yourself. These words aren’t gifts of truth; they are wounding words that strike at the gift of who you are and overshadow the way God sees you.

How do we move on from the impact of those words?

We can do so by breaking the power of those words over our minds, hearts, lives, and actions through the mighty name of Jesus. He said that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what we loosen on earth is loosed in heaven. (Matt 16:19 paraphrased). We can take part in the spiritual battle for our emotional well-being by binding the power of those wounding words in Jesus' Name and loosening over our lives the positive influence of the positive terms God calls us by.

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with new, positive words about ourselves. The Bible uses many words to describe who God’s children are in His sight: chosen, redeemed, beautiful, loved, saved, adopted, and forgiven are just a few. We can call ourselves by those words and ask the Holy Spirit's help to believe and embrace these words.

We get to steward even our personalities to bring God glory. We can be grateful to God for who He created us by recognizing the gift of who we are and accepting how God sees us. We are His deliberate and careful workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), and we can be grateful for that!

Prayer:

Lord, would You lift my head and pull my chin up from my chest where it hangs heavy because of others’ wounding words? You are a shield around me, and You are my glory. (Psalms 3:3). You created me in Your image and with a purpose. While some may call me names, You want to 'rejoice over me with singing.' (Zephaniah 3:17). I am not a small matter or a joke to You. On the contrary, to You, I'm a big deal. Lord, thank You for speaking powerfully good words over me. Please help me to embrace and believe them. In Jesus' Name. Amen.