Could you use a pep talk today? If you want to feel better about being in your own skin and who you are, then look no farther because it's time to say goodbye to insecurity and to know who you are in Christ.
Today's message is coming from the heart, the heart of God towards you through me. So, you've got God's heart and my heart coming at you in today's message, and that is to let you know that you are valuable, and you are unique. You are a masterpiece who has amazing gifts created by a God who does not make mistakes. You can do all things through Christ, who gives you strength. He cares about every detail. He knows the words before they're on your lips. He knows when you're going to go to sleep at night or to stand up from a seated position. His thoughts about you outnumber the grains of sand. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Anything that tries to tell you differently, anyone who tries to diminish you, minimize you, criticize you, condemn you, judge you, shame you, or lie to you, is not of God. They are not acting of God. They are not representing Him, and you don't need to listen to them. So why do we listen? Sometimes because we're not convinced of our own worth. Sometimes we might be insecure about that thing, so it resonates a little bit deeper, whatever it was that someone said.
It's a Lie of the Enemy
There was this business meeting I was on with a woman who is lovely. She comes across very professional and yet very personally encouraging and just sweet and just fully capable. She said she got some feedback from somebody, or from many people, I guess, that she was too pushy or direct. She may be direct, but that does not mean she's pushy. She may be direct, but that does not mean it's bad. She is also all of these other wonderful things. So, looking at it through other people's eyes and then judging something, that's a characteristic, because it's different, as if it's bad, is a mistake and it's a lie of the enemy. And he likes to try to do that because if he can make you feel insecure, not worthy, not good enough, question your value, question your right to show up in life, make you feel diminished in any way, then he's effectively hurt you and taken you out of the equation of making an impact.
You Are a Masterpiece
So, I want to encourage you, be the unique person that you are. Let the world hear you. Let them know who you are because you bring something to the table that no one else does, that no one else can. God doesn't make anything without a purpose, and He has a purpose for you. The Bible says that He has a future and a hope for you, and that hope will not be cut off. If you're not feeling enough today, if you're worried about people judging you, if you're insecure in any way, or you've been hurt before and you're just trying to survive because you don't know how to feel good about yourself going forward, I want you to hear this message today. Rewind it, replay it, play it again if you need to. You are a unique masterpiece.
God made no mistakes when He designed you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and you are gifted in amazing ways for such a time as this, the enemy's just scared of you. People who are insecure, who are saying things, that's their problem, that's not yours. You don't have to buy into the lies. You don't have to shrink for anybody, you don't have to overthink, you don't have to try harder, you don't have to play small you don't have to stay quiet when you need to speak up, and you don't need to speak up when you're fine staying quiet. This is not about you and other people. It's like that Mother Teresa prayer. Love people anyway, do good anyway, but it's never been about you and them anyway.
You & God
This whole thing is about you and God. This whole thing called life is about you knowing who God is and becoming all that He has designed for you to be so that you can love others and draw others to Him and be Him in the world. Show up reflecting your heavenly Father, the traits of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, the mind of Christ, all of those things live inside of you as a believer. You can claim and hold on to the truth of your identity and be solid, refuse to entertain the lies any further, and make a choice of not listening to lies by saying, I do not accept that, that is not getting into my space. I know the truth about me because I know who made me. I am fine. I am powerful, strong, and determined, and I am God's. He's got great things for me. I am fully capable, fully enough and don't need to apologize for being seen and taking up space and speaking truth and showing up in love with my gifts to glorify God. I want that for you. I want that for me.
I want you to really take to heart the fact that the rest of it is all clutter and lies just designed to deceive and get you spinning your wheels, get you hurting, get you doubting, get you to stop taking action that will lead others to Christ and bring healing to others and love to others. And we don't need to play that game. Time's too valuable, you're too valuable. God's too valuable. Others are too valuable to listen to lies.
Sticky Fly Paper
So, I want to encourage you, take a piece of paper out, write down all of the insecurities that you have, all of the lies, all of the things that go through your mind on a day-to-day basis and for each one that you write down, keep a running list of it. You can do this daily; you can do this for a week; you could do this for a month; you could do it for the next hour, whatever you choose. But choose a time frame and brain dump all of those lies, all of those insecurities, all of those doubts and fears, all of those hurtful things, get them out of you onto paper and imagine that that paper is just sticky paper like fly paper and just all the icky flies, all the icky lies get stuck to this paper, and they can't come back onto you.
God's Word in Your Heart
Then get out another sheet of paper and write down God's truth about you, God's purposes, God's ways, who you are in Christ. And write those down and that put that inside your heart. Hide God's word in your heart, in your mind, in your words, in your self-talk, in the way you show up in the world, in the way you talk to others, in the way you act and think. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways. Acknowledge Him and he will direct your path. Do not be deceived. Don't look to the left or the right. Look up. Walk with God.
I want to remind you one more time before I go. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God loves you and cherishes you and cares about you. He thinks you're to die for, and He did. You are valuable. Now go live in the power of the resurrected Jesus Christ. He loves you that much. And that's what's important in this life, living for Him because He loves everyone that much too. Now go serve Him. And don't let the lies get in the way. Go take on the day.
Do you ever feel like you're grinding your wheels, like you're going around a hamster wheel over and over again and expecting different results, but not getting them because things just continue the way they've been going and you really long for change, but you're starting to get discouraged and finding it difficult to meet your goals? If that's you, I want to tell you that there is a difference between someone who is successful at reaching their goals and someone who isn't. That difference can come down oftentimes to one of four things. It can come down to a difference in belief, a difference in habits, a difference in perseverance, and a difference in supports. I want to into that for you, so that you can see what contributes to success and what contributes to failure or lack of moving forward.
4 Things that Make a Difference in Success or Failure at Meeting Goals
- Belief: Belief that it is possible is something that those who achieve have many times, whereas those who don't achieve it don't know they can do it. So, if they don't believe it, they don't follow through on the things that will actually pay off and get it. When I wanted to go back to school for my master's degree in professional counseling, I did not know if I could do it. I was already in my mid-30s, and I had three kids at home and was homeschooling and didn't know if I was going to even get into the program because I had to pass a statistics class to be able to qualify to get into the program. So, statistics is math. I am good with words. I am not good with math. I know my strengths and my limitations, and it was really hard to get through that statistics class, but I did. I didn't succeed on the first test. I got an F on the first test. I remember just crying, thinking I thought I was called to this. I thought I was supposed to be a counselor, but I can't get past this first test in statistics. I had studied so hard. I really studied hard. I thought I understood as well as I was going to. I went in there and I bombed the test, and I didn't know how. I thought, oh my goodness, I'm going to waste my family's money and take time away from my kids all for something that I'm just going to throw time and money away. It's just heartbreaking. I remember my husband and I went out to eat at a nice little Italian cafe place, and I remember that moment. It was between will I continue or will I not? I seriously cried trying to decide. It was so hard because it looked like everything was against me. It did not look to me like I could succeed. I only knew what God had called me to and what I desired, yet this statistics class, this first test was standing in my way. As my husband and I thought about it, and we probably prayed about it, too, I don't really recall at this point, but we just decided that it was worth it to go for it because I was there telling myself that I couldn't pass, but in reality, I probably could pass. I just would have to not fail all of the tests, right? I did end up with a C in that class. That was the hardest class of my whole master's program for me. No matter how many A's I got, that C is the one I am the proudest of because I didn't give up and I worked so hard for it, and I believed that I could at least pass that class. I got a C, and that was good enough for me because that's all I needed, was to have a statistics class under my belt. I already had a sociology class and a psychology class from my undergrad degree, so that was it. I could get into the program. It was wonderful because the rest of it was a piece of cake compared to statistics. I was just so thrilled that I didn't give up. So, the belief that I could do something like pass a class, even though I had failed the first test, was a huge, huge shift in what I thought I could do, because I thought it was all over right then and there. But when I chose to believe that it was possible and that God was calling me forward to do it, it was something that I accomplished with God's strength and my husband's help with math tutoring. I did accomplish it.
- Habits: The habits that actually move someone towards success is another difference. The things that we do on the daily, everyday moments, the things that we do when we're trying to set ourselves up for success and for goals are so important. It's not that we have to be perfect or never slip up, but those things that we do over and over again are the things that set the patterns, and those patterns set the outcomes. If you want to achieve your goals, it's important to set effective habits that you follow through on and do regularly, quite possibly even daily.
- Perseverance: Continue to persevere, just like I did through that statistics class. You don't give up. You keep going. Even when things seem hard or seem impossible, you persevere, you keep showing up, and eventually you get through to the other side and you get to see the success and be so proud of yourself for not giving up.
- Support: Have the right supports along the way if you're going to be successful. People who are successful know people who can mentor them, or they get education from others, whether that's through books, courses, mentorship, counseling, or coaching. Whatever it is that they need, they obtain it. They seek out others who can encourage them. They seek out others who can help lead them on to good things, hold them accountable, and show them what is possible. These supports in mentoring, education, encouragement, and teaching, all of these amazing characteristics of what it takes to get to a certain outcome are the people and the things that are in the environment of successful people. See, successful people don't always have everything given to them. Sometimes they have to seek it out.
It's not that things are just naturally easier for people who succeed towards their goals. It's that the people who succeed towards their goals employ these four steps. They believe that they can, they do the actions and the habits that move them forward. They don't give up and they continue to persevere, and they seek out what they need in the way of supports, knowledge, the education, the encouragement, accountability, and mentorship to make it possible.
Scripture for Reaching Your Goals
I can back these things up scripturally, too. If you are looking to meet your goals and you feel like you've just been running on a hamster wheel or a treadmill and cannot get any traction, I want to encourage you with these scripture verses belief that your success is possible.
Philippians 4:13 says, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
The second one is that you can decide that you will do healthy habits that move you forward towards your goal. I Corinthians 9:24-27 says, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we for an imperishable wreath. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. It's like training. It's like training in sports. It's something that you get your system to do again and again.
Then when you think about not giving up, about persevering. Galatians 6:9 might be helpful to you, and that is, let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. The Bible tells us we will reap what we sow. We will reap a harvest if we do not give up. If we sow good things and if we put that in the ground, those actions will produce good results and outcomes, especially when the Lord has called us to it. When the Lord is stirring our hearts to do something like me going for my counseling degree, we can trust His voice even if we don't see how it's possible because He won't leave us. He will empower us, and He will go before us and make a way.
Finally, Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks to the importance of having others around you who can help which says, let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another. And all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Then, to get knowledge is also supported in Proverbs 16:16 biblically and says, how much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver?
