WHO ARE YOU?

Ya know, one of the things I am constantly trying to emphasize to Nuggets while on your healing journey is the importance of understanding your worth. I speak to you about the fact that you were born so valuable -just like GOLD- and that your worth was there from the very beginning. I know this is the truth and I will never stop trying to help you see it.

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"You were NOT to born thinking you SUCK!"

- Gary V.

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The other night, I shared a video while on a TikTok LIVE where GARY VEE (Youtube) reminded us “You were not born thinking you suck.” I really couldn’t have stated it more accurately. When you were born you had EVERYTHING ahead of you and as a small child you were unhindered in thought and action. You were brave, you were joyful, you were exuberant. You were demonstrative, you were emotional, you were uninhibited, you were free and you were CONFIDENT. YOU BELIEVED IN YOURSELF.

Do you want to know why? Because the world and its inhabitants hadn’t hurt you yet. You had not yet been buried beneath the dirt and grime of abuse, neglect, condemnation, criticism and shame. You were still walking in your TRUE IDENTITY. Deep inside you knew WHO you were without even trying.

I want to share a story from Luke 20 that drives this point home. The time of Jesus’ arrest is approaching but hasn’t happened yet. He was teaching one day when the Pharisees approached him and tried to trip him up with a tricky question. Their hope was that He would say something to get Himself in trouble so they could come at Him.

After a few flowery words, they pose the question of whether or not the Jews should pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus, in his utter wisdom, gave them the perfect answer. He asked them to look at a denarius (the coinage used at the time by the Roman Empire) and to tell Him who was imprinted ON the coin. It was, of course, an image of Caesar, the one in the position of ruling the empire. This was and is still a common practice in many, if not all nations. Think how exciting it is when you travel abroad and look at the money that bears the ruler or former ruler’s image or think about the money we have here in the US that bears the images of our former presidents.

What has God minted His image on? MAN. US! You and me! Think about that for a second....

There are many scriptures that remind us that we are made in God’s image. Genesis 1:26-27, Colossians 3:10, Genesis 5:1 all refer to us being in his likeness or image. We have GREAT VALUE because we bear the image of THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE! If you really sit and think about that for a second it just might blow your mind.

How often do we choose to believe the hurtful assignments of our value given to us by our abusers or toxic people in our lives? As children with non-developed prefrontal cortexes, we had no choice but to believe that we were unwanted, unloved, and less than. Our perspective was so so small. However, as adults now, we have the capability of applying logic and creating a shift in our belief system. When I think of the fact that the GOD OF ALL CREATION calls me his BELOVED, I can hardly contain my relief at understanding my TRUE identity!

The problem in defining ourselves according to our past is that we are holding onto sinful man’s evaluation or interpretation of our worthiness. My pastor stated it so clearly,

“We don’t know WHO WE are, because we don’t remember WHOSE WE ARE.”

Gah! How true is this statement? He gave an example I would like to share related to this truth.

Look at the wild lions that have been taken from their original habitat of the Sahara Desert and the likes and are put into captivity. What is the result in them when this happens? THEY ARE NO LONGER LIVING AS WHO THEY TRULY ARE! At their core, who they were made to be, they are brave, strong, courageous hunters. Once in captivity, they are weak, dependent, docile, and passive cats waiting on others to take care of them. What a difference their environment has created as it has molded them into something that they truly are NOT, but they don’t even know that.

Had they never been taken into captivity they would still be walking in who they actually are! Now that they are living behind bars, they walk in this altered version of their TRUE IDENTITY! So I ask you this question: Have you become like the lions at the zoo? WHAT or WHO has placed you behind bars? Have you forgotten, or maybe never even known, your true identity?? What words or beliefs from your PAST have shaped you into being something that you truly are not?

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Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge was a critical book for me. By completing an intensive study on this book I was reminded of who I am. I say reminded, because I've been a Christ follower since I was six and I've always known what the Bible says about me, but sometime along the way I forgot. My pastor's recent reminder was simply confirmation that YOU TOO needed to hear that, that you need to trust that and that you need to walk confidently in that.

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Daughter, the One who spoke the world into existence calls you HIS. His image is within you and on you. You are who HE says you are. His definition is the one to believe, not the lies that have come as a result of wounding by other humans. Oh my child, can you grasp that? Why, oh why, would we ever continue to believe the lies in our minds created by human experience rather than the BEAUTIFUL truth of who we are according to God Almighty?

May we wrap ourselves today in a blanket of truth. May we devour it as sustenance for our hungry souls. May we find sweet relief in the knowledge that we have been looking at ourselves incorrectly all along and that we have a new identity within reach that has been there all along. May we break out of the cages that we have so long been held captive in. May we decide that today is the day of choosing to throw away the lies and begin walking confidently in the knowledge that we are created and loved by our God who loves us more than we could EVER fathom?

Let Him be the source of your affirmation, Beloved Girl. In His UNCHANGING LOVE may you see and embrace your worth. I can love you from the depths of my heart and it can’t even begin to touch the level to which God loves you and wants you to know how truly beautiful you are.

My prayer is that today is the start of you understanding your true worth and walking in it. My prayer for you is that you know WHO you are by knowing WHOSE you are, my sweet Nugget.