When Your Greatest Enemy is Yourself

The greatest tragedy that could take place in your life, would be for you to believe that you are worth less than you really are. 

But devastatingly enough, far too many young men and women are falling for the lies that convince them that they are responsible for defining themselves.

That may be good news for the small minority of people- who’s lives are filled with accomplishments, rewards, and achievements- but for the rest of us, that lie comes with disappointment, discouragement, and shame.

If I am responsible for creating my own value and identity- then I am woefully defined by a series of failures, a list of mistakes, and a record of bad choices.  If I am responsible for defining myself than I begin to lose hope, because for ever right in my life- there is a correlating wrong.

I’ve interacted with far too many people who are stuck on nothing more than themselves.  Because of their choices and mistakes, they carry with them a definition- an ugly label that they have placed on themselves like a Scarlett letter.  A definition that is stained with guilt, fear, and shame.

It’s a stifling label that holds them back and keeps them from moving forward.  A label that prevents them from experiencing joy, peace, and happiness.  A label that sabotages their life and causes them to believe that they are damaged, worthless, and beyond redemption.

But the greatest tragedy that could take place in a person’s life, would be for them to believe that they are worth less than they really are.  

It’s time come face to face with these treacherous labels that we were never intended to carry- because there is a God who came to earth for the purpose of ripping off all the old labels- and replacing them with something new.  

May this be a new beginning in your life, a time for you to throw off the old labels.  A time to seek healing, and to grant yourself forgiveness from the choices and mistakes of your past.  Because sometimes, it is so much easier to accept forgiveness from God, than to accept it from ourselves.

May the words of this song by Tenth Avenue North challenge you, encourage you, and motivate you to break free of the past and step into the truth of God’s redemptive purpose for your life.  It’s time to throw off the old, and live in something new.

 “There’s a girl in the corner With tear stains on her eyes From the places she’s wandered And the shame she can’t hide She says, “How did I get here? I’m not who I once was.  And I’m crippled by the fear That I’ve fallen too far to love”

But don’t you know who you are, What’s been done for you?

You are more than the choices that you’ve made

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes

You are more than the problems you create

You’ve been remade…

‘Cause this is not about what you’ve done

But what’s been done for you

This is not about where you’ve been

But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel, But what He felt to forgive you…you’ve been remade”

To read more on understanding your value and worth in Christ, pick up a copy of my new book, True Love Dates!