Day 256: People's Opinions

Proverbs 29:25

It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe. (GNT)

One of the greatest lessons God has taught me is to be confident in who I am and who He has made me to be. He has allowed me or taught me to see myself the way He sees me. To love myself. He has taught me not to view myself through the filter of my peers. He has made me who I am and I am not subject to succumb to the opinions of others. We are not made to live in the shadow of someone’s opinions. Opinions didn’t make us, so they most definitely do not have the power to break us. I have found freedom in not caring about what others think. That was something that held me back for a very long time in every area of my. The grave fear of, “What will people think?” “What will people say?” The more I thought about that, the more it destroyed me, because one thing my mom always taught us is, no matter what, people will always have an opinion. People will always have something to say. Then she would follow it up by saying something like, “it’s a good thing you aren’t living for their acceptance. Ever since I was a little girl my parents have taught me that the only person I have to please is God, that I am not here to please anyone, not even them. Those statements would not resonate with me until later in my life but I have grasped the concept of it.

I believe that God wants us to be confident people, and He does not want us to be held captive by what people think of us. Honestly speaking, we are often concerned with how people view us, especially as Christians. We act a certain way around certain people so they don’t think we are bad people or bad Christians. However when we are more concerned with how God views us, we are much happier with ourselves and our lives. There’s so much joy in living our lives solely for God. There’s a certain type of joy that cannot be tainted when we truly grasp the meaning of being free in christ. When we just accept ourselves the way God made us and love every part of who we are, we tend to love others more. When we treat ourselves well we tend to treat others well. When we are confident in who we are we want to build up others. It’s like a domino effect. When we all learn to be ourselves, and fully devote ourselves to God, the world will be a much happier place. People will love each other because they love themselves.

I have found, very recently that all the confidence, all the strength and belief in myself I will ever need I can and have found in God. It was only when I drew closer to the Lord that I figured out how to focus on Him and not others. What I mean is that for so long I cared about how people viewed me, and when I fully immersed myself into the word of God, and fully devoted myself and my life to Christ, that is when all of my insecurities and cares for what others thought of me disappeared. Basically what I’m saying is I live a carefree life because I live a Christ-like life. It’s crazy how that works. Living in the world could not give me the type of freedom that I have now. And it feels good, not caring feels so good. I’m just going through life happy and free, it’s great!

All this to say, live the life god has given you and not care about what others think of you. The only person you have to please is God. Don’t allow the opinions of others dictate who you are and how you view yourself. God made you who you are for a reason. People’s opinions either elevate you or tear you down, you have to choose which ones are meant for your life.

Reflection

1. Are you often caught up in the opinions of others?
2. Are you viewing yourself through God’s eyes or the eyes of your peers or neighbors?
3. Do you believe that there is freedom from that in Christ?
4. Can you agree that all this confidence and freedom is found in the Lord?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what we discussed today, as Him to help you see you, the way He sees you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 257!

Day 246: WE LIVE! (Know your Worth)

1 Corinthians 7:23

God paid a high price for you, so don't be enslaved by the world.

1 Peter 1:18-19

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

I think we are all under the common knowledge of the cost of our salvation. We know the price Jesus paid so that we could be saved, and live a life free of sin and shame. We know John 3:16, and how powerful the message is of this beautiful scripture. The scripture tells us that God loves us so much, the scripture states that he “so loved the world”. He loves us so much that He sent His son, his only son, to die so that we may have an everlasting life. So that we may be saved and have a relationship with Him. Jesus came to earth and willingly gave up His life because He loves us so much. Through these actions of selfless and unconditional love, we live. We live freely, and unbound to anything or anyone. We live free of guilt, shame, sin, fear, regret, our past. Free of it all, we live. I want to talk about two major points today, starting with us as the body of Christ knowing our worth, as well as knowing that life is worth living.

Know your worth

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?

Do you understand that you are worth more? What I mean is to God, you are worth the life of His son. Let’s think about that for a minute. You are valuable to God. We are the things He loves most. Out of all creation, and we can all agree that we have seen some astoundingly beautiful things in our lifetime. We have seen beauty beyond words, and even in that light, when God looks at us, we are more beautiful. We can be standing in the middle of the most beautiful place on Earth, but in God’s eyes we are the most beautiful thing on earth or even in the universe. We are more valuable in His eyes. Knowing this truth, how are we to go through life? Knowing that we are so worthy in the eyes of God, how are we to carry ourselves? We cannot walk around defeated or without confidence because our father in heaven has the victory and He has given it to us. Our father in heaven has given us the biggest confidence boost of all time. One of the biggest parts of life is knowing or finding our worth. Many times we will come to the conclusion that we have been selling ourselves short. If we want to survive in life, we must know our worth. It’s imperative that we understand our worth. To do that we must look to God and His word.

Life is worth living

Jesus gave his life so that we can have life. That’s how much He loves us. But also that is how important we are to Him. That’s how important our lives are to Him. He didn’t just give up His life for no reason. There was something He knew that we didn’t. Jesus knew our worth, He knew that we were created for a purpose and He could not allow our lives to be destroyed and continuously corrupted by sin. Our lives are worth living. Our lives are meant to be lived. Our lives are so important that He would give up His to make sure we have ours. That means we have a purpose, There is a reason for us to be here, So much so, that Jesus gave up His life to make sure we can live. God sent His son to make sure we can live. We’re here for a reason. If we had no purpose, if our lives didn’t matter why would Jesus give up  His life for ours?

All this to say, know your worth and know that your life has a purpose. You have a purpose. You are here for a reason. Jesus did something for us that no one else could do, He gave us a chance to live.  Money couldn’t do it, only love could.

Reflection

1. Do you believe that your life is important to God?
2. Do you believe that you are here for a reason?
3. Are you aware of your worth?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Have some time of silence and solitude with God. Spend time with God, just take the time to think about how much He loves you.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 247!