Well, it's not HOT in my neck of the woods in temperature (not today anyway) but it's sure been a HOT minute since I last posted. For that I am so sorry but it seems my life has been consumed with doctor appointments, tests, and MORE tests, biopsies, surgery and so much more. One day at a time sweet Jesus is all that any of us can ask for. Wanted to pop in on this beautiful Sunday afternoon to share a little about what I've been up too. Marty and I enjoyed a weekend at the beach before I had breast cancer surgery and took advantage of the time I had in between so many doctor appointments and testing. It was sure a good little getaway. We celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary in September. WOW! Just babies! LOL! We were high school sweethearts. Started dating at age 16. Married at age 18 and started a family at age 20. We celebrated Marty's birthday in October. He says that he's feeling his age these days. LOL! He still works 4 days a week and has a long commu...
As women, so many of
us find ourselves:
Basing our self-worth on how others see us and on our
accomplishments
Defining our value based on our looks
Pleasing everyone on the home front, the family, co-workers,
friends and even the church community.
But it doesn’t have
to be this way. If only we could see ourselves as God sees us!
We
say to ourselves: “I must be loved or approved by every significant other
person in my life and all my accomplishments must be great".
The
Truth is: If we are living to make
sure that others love us, we give them permission to evaluate us based on what
we do – we give people the power to
determine our self-worth.
We think: If ONLY I had her hair, her height, her weight, her skin, her clothes
and etc. then I would be perfect.
The
Truth is: If God had intended
for us to look like HER He would have made all women to look alike. We have
been fashioned and designed by the Master Craftsman to look like WHO we are.
We
think: I must please everyone every
waking second of my day.
The
Truth is: People pleasing goes
back to basing our self-worth on the expectations of others! If we are truly His
servants, then our primary goal will be to please God first, not others.
We as Christians tend to often live within our comfort zone in order to avoid
confrontation, aiming never to give offence or get angry, and then becoming
over-responsible. We doubt our self-worth, and because we have a desperate need
for approval, fear to say, “No.” Because we believe love and acceptance is earned
we live under the lie that we need to do something to gain the love and
acceptance of God. But God’s love is unconditional; freely given, through the
Lord Jesus, as a gift of grace.
What we
think about ourselves will ultimately become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Let
me pray for us all now ladies: Dear Father God, I do want to please You.
Forgive me for the times I let my desire to be accepted by a person outweigh my
desire to please You. Thank You for Your love and for accepting me
unconditionally. Thank you Father for creating me to be me. Help me to be a
better servant, doing the right thing, not the people-pleasing thing. Give me courage and peace to withstand the
pressure I feel when others are displeased with my answers. I pray this and all
prayers in the name of the One who was the perfect servant, Jesus Christ; Amen
Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI need to print and post this entry in my office. This was wonderful, just what I needed to hear. Thank you for reminding us all that we need to be ourselves as God intended, not what someone else thinks we should be.
Thank you for sharing.
(Thanks too for dropping by my site.)
Sharlotte
Timely message for me today. Have you been reading my thoughts?
ReplyDeleteConnie Royals
These healing words are SO needed by a hurting generation of women striving after physical perfection. Thank you so much for writing them!
ReplyDeleteOuch!!! Thanks for the reminder...I think!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteIf we could just know how much HE loves us and the value HE places on each of us, it would change the way we see ourselves. To think that He chose to create each of us in a special, unique way should say something! Thanks for the reminder to be the me HE created me to be!
ReplyDelete~Adrienne~
The girls and I were just talking on this subject. You brought out some great points to consider!
ReplyDeleteLovely and helpful as always, Cindy. Thank you, and thank you, too, for visiting my espresso post and your sweet comment. ~Zuni
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by! I started doing a tree or two for every holiday after seeing one in my Dr.'s office!!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Debbie
Oh, I think you were describing me. Thanks for the wise godly words and the prayer, Cindy. I need to go back and reread this often.
ReplyDeleteOh, Cindy - I really needed to hear these words today. I'm networking with a couple of other Christian businesswomen and we are really working through this very issue in a number of ways as the Lord guides our steps in building a new work. Sometimes it is so hard to be comfortable in our own skin. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteKathy