If we were not praised or affirmed in our childhood,
Life can be harder and more challenging.
If we were raised in some type of dysfunctional home,
it makes it harder to believe in ourselves.
Learning how to talk to ourselves and choosing
not to beat ourselves up or listen to negative thoughts
is a first step to freedom.
Setting very small goals
that we know we can achieve
is also a good start.
Everyday, no matter what we are working towards,
making it a little further will help build us up,
and if we fail,
we must forgive ourselves, and start over.
Remember, we are not defeated when we lose,
we are defeated when we quit!
We must allow ourselves to be human.
Nobody is perfect.
It may look that way when we see others,
but we don't know what other
people are dealing with.
Everyone has a story.
We must take our issues up with God and ask Him--
truly ask Him-- to help us.
We must believe that He hears us.
If we will begin thinking things that are positive and true,
we will begin to change.
A fact is--scripture gets down into our inmost being
and the Bible says it won't return void--
it will accomplish something GOOD our our lives.
It doesn't happen overnight,
we won't ever be perfect, but remember, no one is.
The one thing we must understand is that
God sees our heart.
We are special to Him.
When we realize and believe
that we are special to God,
our actions will begin to line up with our beliefs.
When we believe negative things about ourselves--
we will act it out.
For example, if we believe we have no value,
we may feel inferior around other people
When we believe that God places high value on us--
really believe it, we will begin to change.
That can apply to our weight, our looks, and more importantly our inner self.
However, even if we never change or if we never believe in ourselves, God believes in us, He sees and He values us.
He sees our hearts.
We are made in His image and He loves us as we are.
Whether we ever believe it or not still makes it true.
It's like refusing to believe we have
money in the bank,
if it's there, its there, period.
God says we are special to Him and so we are.
We just need to believe it.
Remember Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.
KL
See the story of "The Cracked Pot" below
The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7
1 Samuel 16:7
The Cracked Pot:
A Story For Anyone Who's Not Quite Perfect
A waterbearer in India had two large pots,
one hung on each end of a pole,
which she carried across her neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it.
While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house,
the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily,
with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house.
The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what
it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself,
and I want to apologize to you."
Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work,
and you don't get full value from your efforts,"
the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said,
"As we return to the mistress's house,
I want you to notice the
beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path,
and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path,
but not on the other pot's side?
“That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.
“For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table.
Without you being just the way you are,
she would not have this beauty to grace her house."
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws.
We're all cracked pots.
But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We've just got to take each person for what they are,
and look for the good in them.
My health may fail,
and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains
the strength of my heart.
