I Said to Myself: Overcoming False Beliefsనమూనా

Be Resilient

False Belief: I always end up quitting everything!

● Caution: self-defeat 

Have you ever wondered what makes it easier for some people to bounce back after a tragedy than others? Or why hundreds facing the same life-changing event wind up on drastically different paths? 

Imagine a young woman whose childhood was rife with trauma. Perhaps she grew up in impoverished conditions where she experienced chronic abuse and lacked a proper support system. Now imagine this same young woman went on to earn an advanced degree and developed a nonprofit organization to help underprivileged youth living in poverty.

The Book of Ruth relates that Ruth and Orpah, two women of Moab, had married two sons of Elimelech and Naomi, Judeans who had settled in Moab to escape a famine in Judah. The husbands of all three women die; Naomi plans to return to her native Bethlehem and urges her daughters-in-law to return to their families. Orpah does so, but Ruth refuses to leave Naomi, declaring (Ruth 1:16–17), “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.” Ruth accompanies Naomi to Bethlehem and later marries Boaz, a distant relative of her late father-in-law. She is a symbol of abiding loyalty, devotion and resilience. 

Ruth could have easily gone her separate way. She was free from remaining with her mother-in-law Naomi. She could have cried foul and even be upset at God for taking her husband from her as a process of mourning. Yet she refused to let that determine the end of her story.

We all have a story within us that is continually reshaped by our struggles and victories, our tests, and triumphs. We may not always choose how the plot of our life unfolds, but we can choose whether we see a tragedy as a beginning or an ending. We can choose how we stand up to our villains and make peace with battles we have lost and those we continue to fight. We can tell our stories in a way that empowers us, rather than diminishes our strengths. Most of all, we can use our stories for good, to lift ourselves up, and to help those around us who are still learning to stand and stand again.

Remember: If you find yourself dealing with self-defeat, saying, “I always end up quitting everything”, make this declaration:

I am empowered, called, chosen and a masterpiece of God. EPH 2:10 (NLT)