Have you ever imagined what your life would be way like if you were… different? Maybe you’ve imagined having a different physical appearance? Or maybe you’ve imagined possessing a higher mental acumen? Or perhaps you’ve imagined what it would be like to be more/less emotional than you are?
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ve thought about these things periodically at different times in my life. I’ve wondered on more than one occasion what it would be like if I was more physically fit. I’ve wondered what it would be like if I had more hair… Ok, let’s be honest, I’ve wondered what it would be like if I had ANY hair! There have been times when I’ve thought that I wasn’t as smart as the next person, or that I didn’t have as good of a handle on my emotions as the next person.
I’ve compared myself to others too many times to count, and I’ve thought about changing pretty much everything about myself at one point or another.
As I’ve thought about these things, I’ve also wondered about how these changes to my identity would boost my confidence. I’ve wondered about how these changes would affect my friendships, and (previous to getting married) how they would affect my dating life. Would these changes finally bring me the new and improved feelings of self-confidence and worth that I longed for? Because let’s face it, the reason I thought about these things was because I perceived myself, or portions of myself, as being less than. I perceived myself, or portions of myself, as not being “good enough,” and as, “needing improvement.”
But the reality is that these imaginations were not true at all. And what’s more, they were sinful. They were sinful because they called into question God’s truth.
God’s truth tells us that we cannot be “less than,” because we were made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 5:1), and He is perfect. God’s truth tells us that it is impossible for us to, “not be good enough,” because God Himself declared at creation that we were good (Gen. 1:31). God’s truth tells us that we will never, “need improvement,” because we are His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), a concept that can be descriptively articulated as meaning we are His work of art!
Though we all too often choose to believe these heinous lies concerning ourselves, God’s liberating and redemptive truth tells us that we don’t have to anymore. God has revealed to us that we are His beautiful, prized possessions, created in His image and likeness, and we are of infinite worth! It took me years before I stopped telling myself the same old story that I wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t smart enough, and that I had no value; my prayer is that you will not take so long.
What stories are you telling yourself? Are you believing the lies of the enemy, or are you trusting and taking comfort in the truths of God? You can change the story that you tell yourself today!
You can see Dr. Leslie Gonzales’ original article in the online edition of the Valley Christian Magazine here!