For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Ephesians 2:10

Have you ever been last picked? It’s not the greatest feeling in the world. We all want to be a part of a winning team. We all want to succeed. We all want to be picked first in life. However, I find that all too often, we feel inadequate in life and believe that what we have to offer is worthless compared to what everyone around us brings to the table.

Seth Godin wrote a great post, “Reject the Tyranny of Being Picked: Pick Yourself“.  In it, he said, “No one is going to pick you. Pick yourself.”

While I was reading that post, I agreed with that statement. It’s true that in life, there may be no one who goes out of their way to pick you. You need to believe in yourself and what you can do if you’re going to be successful.

But as I was reading that quote by Seth, God spoke to my heart. He said, “I’ve picked you.”

That got me fired up! Ephesians 2:10 says that God already has paths planned for us, that if we’ll walk in them, we’ll live the good life, that he pre-arranged for us! God has already picked us. He picked us before we were even born (Romans 5:8). I like how Zig Ziglar says it, “God doesn’t take time to make a nobody.”

Once we know that God’s already picked us in life, we can start to pick ourselves. We can believe in what He has put in us. We can believe in what He sees in us.

Always remember that God has picked you.

So stop doubting yourself. Stop diminishing your dreams. Stop thinking everyone else has talent and you don’t. Stop thinking everyone else “on the team” is great, and you are mediocre. God picked you for His team. He believes in you.

Start to See Yourself as He Sees You and Go after what He’s put in your heart.

Thoughts?

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ -Matthew 22:36-39

Have you ever wished you were never born? Have you ever hated your life because of what people have said about you? Have you ever come to point where you feel like giving up? I know I have.

So much of our pain and loneliness is a result of a poor self-image. We “know” God loves us, but we don’t love ourselves, which proves that we don’t really know God loves us, created us, and made us just how He wanted us!

Jesus said to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we don’t love ourselves, we’ll never  be in a position to love and impact others. So how do we learn to love ourselves?

The Solution: Fight lies with the truth.

Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.” We need to put all of our trust and worth into God’s hand. We need to see ourselves as He sees us. We do this by spending time in His Word, in His presence, and around other believers!

When other people or our own thoughts tell us we’re fat, we’re not good enough, we’ll never be successful, we’ll never find someone to marry, we don’t have any friends, nobody likes us, or _____(fill in the blank), we must recognize  that those are all lies, purposed to hold us captive. We must replace those thoughts with what God says about us.

Here are some thoughts I’ve been thinking on when lies come my way:

• There has never been and never will be anyone else like you.

• “You will make a lousy anybody else, but you are the best “you” in existence.”
  

• God doesn’t take time to make a nobody. – Zig Ziglar
  

• Most of us spend most of our lives trying to prove ourselves to people, when all we have to do is prove ourselves to God. –Mark Batterson

• “God will help you become all you can be, but He will never help you become successful at being someone else.” –Joyce Meyer

One of the greatest battles we will all face is overcoming a poor self image. The only solution is replacing what people have said about you and the negative thoughts that come into your mind with what God says about you.

Two books that helped me with self-image issues are: Soul Print by Mark Batterson and See You at the Top by Zig Ziglar!

Jesus really does love you. He wants you to love you too. Be confident in who He created you to be.

Thoughts?

Don’t Let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building others up. -Ephesians 4:29

This is such a powerful video clip! It’s only 3 minutes long, please take the time to watch it!

Takeaways:

God is Bigger than Anything that Comes Against You! - “Your pain is real, Your loneliness and brokenness are Real and their Big, but God is bigger.”

Your Words Matter – So much of our self-doubts and self-worth are based off of what people have said to us in our past. I love when he said, “We can either kill somebody with our Words, or Save somebody with our words.” It’s true. So many people have to spend years finding out who God says we are, instead of who people have said we are.

It’s Ok for You to be YOU – You’re are SPECIAL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE – this is probably the hardest thing in life to grasp. God made us just how He wanted to. We’re His masterpiece. We need to rejoice in who God made us instead of torturing ourselves wishing we were somebody else.

We Must know what the Truth Says! Without the Truth, We Cannot Fight the Lies – the only way we can know if what we’re thinking is a lie or not is if we know what the truth is. Truth is what God says. The Word of God is truth. We need to define ourselves, our thoughts, and everything in our lives by God’s Word (truth). If we do that, we won’t buy the lies that come to us on a daily basis.