You are unwanted. You aren’t loved. You aren’t important. You have no value. You are a burden. You’d be better off dead. No one wants to hear about your wins or struggles. You can’t do that. No one cares. Does this sound familiar?
My friend,
The above thoughts are all lies from the enemy attempting to tear you down and keep you from a life of peace and joy in Jesus. Lies from the enemy or the world are an attempt to distract us from the life God has called us to live. It’s an attempt to distract us from good fruit—the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22)
Accepting those lies into our hearts can drive us to depression and despair. When this happens our confidence is shaken, and we often are tempted to prove our worth to those around us. The truth is there is nothing we can do to prove our worth to anyone. Our worth was already proven when Jesus died on the cross for you and me. Our worth is not in our abilities but in our identity in Jesus.
There was a time, in constant suffering and sickness that I felt like my life here on earth was more of a burden than worth any good. I felt like the good days had gone and there was nothing left to look forward to. I was tempted to believe the lie that I was here on earth by default and not on purpose.
I had a distorted view of my identity.
It was when my identity was revealed to me to be in Christ that I started to build confidence in Jesus and not myself. No one ever explained my identity in Jesus. It never clicked until the day Jesus lifted me up when I cried out to Him. I had a real conversation with Jesus. Why was I here on earth if I couldn’t even function most days? When was He going to use me? What was the purpose of this illness and what good could come out of it?
Jesus spoke to me at that moment how valuable I was to Him just as I was and the purpose behind my illness—to reveal His glory. (John 11:4) He confirmed that if I was still alive He wasn’t done with me here, yet. I needed to trust He is good and has good plans for me even if I don’t yet see it. That conversation with Jesus rose me up out of my mental grave. I needed to hear His voice that there was still purpose in the suffering—something good to come out of it.
I struggled with acceptance, insecurities and rejection a greater part of my life. I was bullied as a kid and ridiculed by adults as a child. My own biological father seemed to not want me and instead chose a life of sin over his own daughter.
My friends, regardless of how you’ve been treated or what your earthly father did or didn’t do, you have a Heavenly Father that loves you so much that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for you. The Creator of the Universe decided you and I were valuable enough to die for. We were separated from Him by our sin and God could have abandoned us forever. It’s what we deserved, but He couldn’t stand being apart from us. He loves us so much that He would give everything for us. He takes care of us, delights in us, sings over us, pursues us and desires for us to want to be near Him.
My dear friends, you are not forgotten. You are pursued after by your Heavenly Father, continuously. You are cherished by Him. Your identity is not found in things of this world. It is found in Jesus alone.
You are loved, chosen, cherished, provided for and seen by Jesus.
We have to get out of our heads and let Jesus pour into our mind, body and soul. We have to let go of the past rejections and insecurities to be built up by Jesus.
Staying in that dark place leaves us dry.
God has to work out of you the insecurities and implant confidence. Not confidence in yourself but confidence in who Jesus is, His love for you and who He says you are. You are His.
None of us are worthy of anything without Jesus. But because He traded places with us on the cross, taking what He did not deserve, we now are heirs to the throne. Jesus chose to endure the ridicule and suffering here on earth with His crucifixion for you and me. We were worth it to Him.
You are not an afterthought. You were intentionally made in your mother’s womb for such a time as this (Psalm 139, Esther 4).
It’s time to let go of the lies because God is no liar. He made you intentionally and beautifully just as you are to glorify Himself. You have something special that He has gifted you with that no one on this earth has.
When the enemy or the world tells you lies about yourself that you are overlooked, unqualified, worthless, an outcast, etc. remember whose you are, and remember whom God chose in the Bible. David was overlooked and ridiculed but God chose Him as King and to defeat the giant.
We are daughters and sons of Christ. We fall under Jesus’s righteousness…heirs to the throne in the Kingdom of God. Pick up the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) and fight back with truth from the Word of God. Who do you belong to? Is it this world or do you belong to the one and only King Jesus?
Receive His love and let Him be the delight and desire of your heart and you won’t need to seek or have the approval of anything else. Just Jesus!
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Ruler and King of all, help us take our eyes off of ourselves and this world and refocus our attention to the only one that matters—you, Jesus. Where we have let lies penetrate, we repent, take those lies captive and surrender them to Your truth that we are loved, wanted, chosen and redeemed by Jesus. Let us stand firm on our strong foundation and identity in Jesus. Build us up with confidence. Speak to each and every one of us specifically on how much you personally love and value us. Show each of us who we are in You. Forgive us for believing the lies instead of believing in what You say and have said. We take you at Your word and will no longer give in to the lies. Bless us because of Your name, Jesus. Amen!