“When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” Luke 7:37-38 NIV

I have read these verses before. I had admired the woman for giving Jesus everything, but only today, in reading this piece of Scripture, did I notice and come to admire the way she did it.

       It says that “she stood behind him at his feet” (v.38). She wasn’t in front of Him where He could see her. She was BEHIND Him.

       We need to learn from this woman’s example. When we do things against God’s will or displease Him, we often do good deeds for God to see. We hope that it will be enough for Him to look at us without seeing our previous shameful action. This woman, however, had the right heart. She had “lived a sinful life” (v.37), but she wasn’t looking for Jesus to look past that and praise and bless her. She was simply humbling herself and giving Him her all out of love.

       It didn’t matter if He knew who she was (if He knew who was glorifying Him). All that mattered to her is that she knew who HE was.

       She gave Him her best because He deserves it. She wasn’t thinking about what she could get in return. The most beautiful part is, the woman wasn’t worthy of Jesus’ attention and affection, yet in her extremely humble position, He lifted her up to a point where He considered her so.

       Let’s learn from her example and give to God without motive. We shouldn’t aim for Him to know us a certain way, because He already knows us the most beautiful way possible: as His children. Instead, let’s do things because we know Him and all that He is worth.

       We need to change our mindset so that we stop desiring to be seen when we do good deeds. There is no doubt He sees us, but it means more to Him when that is not our motive. We return His love (the way He gives it to us) when we simply do things out of love and not out of hope for any sort of gain. These acts glorify Him most.

       If we are doing good deeds in order to get praise or recognition (to receive our treasure stored up in heaven), then we aren’t doing them out of love. We haven’t truly humbled ourselves quite yet (or at least, didn’t in that instance) and we don’t fully know what He’s worth (or at least, not in that moment).

       When we are fully aware of how much He is worth, everything else pales in comparison. He is all we can think about and showing Him that we adore Him is how we want to live.

       I want to get to a point where I consistently humble myself the way the woman from this piece of Scripture did, not because I want Him to love me more, but because I want to show Him more often that I truly love Him.

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the…sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:13-14(partial), 16-17(partial) NIV

At the beginning of this week, I started my graduate classes to work toward a degree in School Counseling. As I was reading about the different theories of approach for counseling, I found myself struggling not to make God just another theory. I don’t want to use His wisdom only when I think someone will respond well to it, or for His standards to be placed aside as something I can just choose from.

       It was really bothering me. I decided to journal about it so that I could keep my relationship with Him fresh (my entries are notes to Him). But as I was writing, I began to imagine I heard someone analyzing me. The voice said, “She’s made up this big ‘God’ that can help her cope with the injustice and pain that she sees. It gives her hope to keep going. She’s gotten so far into the delusion that she even thinks it is ‘Him’ who starts rationalizing thing for her and showing her what she should do.”

       This hurt me. I started defending my faith. Working to prove He is real. I went through my testimony of how God brought me through a hard time by speaking to me, and I heard the voice respond, “You did that.” I started bringing up another testimony and I could hear the voice shout, “Coincidence.”

       I was heart broken. I didn’t know what to say anymore. I began crying as I fought to refuse believing the lies. Then, God brought something that had happened when I was younger to mind.

       Years ago, my mom stopped at her parents house to run something in really quick. Me and my sister stayed in the car. When my mom came back in she panicked because she realized that instead of putting the car on park, she had put it on neutral. She said, “The car could’ve kept going and crashed. You guys could’ve gotten hurt.” But the car hadn’t moved. She tested it out. She put the car on park and then switched gears to neutral and the car started to move. She told us that God kept the car from moving and protected us.

       It wasn’t me and it wasn’t coincidence. That was God’s power at work and no one could ever convince me otherwise. I felt immediately comforted and at peace.

       He is real. People may attack you for it, but don’t give up.

       I know that attacks will come (this was just me, people haven’t even said anything yet), so I’ve started increasing my time with God. I’ve also started beginning to read Christian books more again in order to have more stories of His power and faithfulness to draw from. He is alive and moving. I need more of Him in order to stand firm when people try to convince me that He is not real. I am going to remember the truth when people try to attack my faith and knock me down.

       That’s why the belt of truth is a part of the armor of God. When we equip ourselves with the truth, it holds everything else together. It keeps us centered and grounded in Him. We’ll be immovable if we keep it because we will know the truth about who our God is. By knowing this, we will be able to guard against the enemy’s attacks with the shield of faith. He can throw whatever he wants at us but when we have faith, even when it doesn’t seem like God will come through, we know He is there. This knowledge will keep us fighting with the sword of the Spirit. In order to fight against the attacks, we need to know God’s promises. This comes from knowing His word.

       The devil likes to instill doubt, but if you stay rooted in the Bible, you will be able to call him out on his lies. God will continue to speak to and strengthen you through it. He fights along side us and He never leaves us behind. Ask Him to show you He’s there and a lot of times, He will.

       Even when I was rooted, He moved some more for me yesterday. As I was journaling, I thought about getting myself a new purity ring (I had given mine to a student in England). I decided against it because I’m trying not to waste money unnecessarily, and I don’t need a ring to remind me to be devoted to and love Him. I’m keeping that in my heart. A ring has no power in itself.

       At the end of the day, however, one of the other leaders at the church asked if I had gotten the box she left with my friend for me. My friend put it in his car, so I had to wait. I got it about half an hour later. As I held the box, my friend asked if the leader had told me the story behind it. I said no. He told me, “She was thinking about how you gave your ring away in England and so she got it for you.”

       I started to cry and opened the box. It was a new purity ring. As I put it on I was just in awe. You can’t tell me that He isn’t real. I’ll never believe you. He has been involved in my life and played a huge role in it. I have seen Him move. If you want to doubt yourself into blindness, that’s on you. But I choose to keep seeing Him.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12 NIV

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Peter 1:18-20 NIV

Sometimes our devotion to God waivers because we forget that He made a sacrifice for our salvation. We have the perception that everything is easy for God, so we grow upset with Him when things are difficult for us. We feel shortchanged because we don’t understand why He’d make things so hard for us if He can do things without trouble.

       In our frustration, we think, “Why would He let me be so attracted to things, if they draw me away from Him? Why doesn’t He just take it away?” Yet, when someone makes a comment about how God controls our lives and our every action, we grow upset. First, because we know that’s not the kind of God we follow and that they have a misconception about Him. Second, because for at least a moment, we fear there’s truth in that statement.

       If we didn’t have free will, then there would be little difference between us and dolls. We want to know that we make our own choices.

       The great news is we do. God allows us to have free will, and that’s why we make bad choices. We can’t blame Him for letting us make the choice to love and obey Him or not. It wouldn’t be love if He forced it.

       We forget the intensity of God’s love for us. It hurts Him to watch us suffer. That’s why He sends healing our way. He turns the darkness in our lives into light and allows us to be further healed by using us to help others through the same things.

       It hurt Him to even think that we had little chance to be with Him and that’s why He sent Jesus as a sacrifice. He wants us. He loves us.

       It wasn’t like God just created Jesus to be sacrificed. Jesus had been with Him since the beginning. When He sent Him, He was truly sacrificing someone precious to Him. He was laying down a part of Himself for us.

       This is the gravity of what God did for us. It’s not just us making sacrifices for our salvation. God made many too. We just forget because His came first and He’s already seen His part through while we are still trying to see ours through.

       Don’t give up on Him. He’s given so much just to be with you some day. He doesn’t take your existence lightly. He adores you. You’re not just another face in the crowd. Live with purpose. He has made the preparations and has the date set for you two to finally be together so there can be no boundaries to the love you can lavish on each other. Don’t miss it because you forgot how much you mean to Him. Search for it yourself. He’ll give you a peek at what He’s done for you if you seek Him.

       It will humble you how much He’s done for you even beyond the crucifixion.

“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:13-17 NIV

Sometimes we talk about things that we’re going to do in the future. We even brag about all the good we will do. Sadly, I know I’ve fallen into this trap. I have caught myself thinking, “Man, that person isn’t even responding to God. What are they doing with their lives? I already at least kind of know what He’s going to do with me. He’s go to…[and the mental list starts].”

       We hypocritically judge people for not doing anything for God. We mistake our vision and plans for deeds done.

       It’s not bad to have vision or make plans, but what James is pointing out is that we rely on having a future to ensure that we do good instead of doing good while we have the time to do so. He’s really just saying, “Hey don’t boast about what you’re going to do, boast about (or be proud of) what you’ve done because you can die in the next moment and what you had planned won’t be what matters. Only what you’ve done will.”

       Only what’s been done will be to our credit. If we rely on a future that never happens, we’ll get to God and He’ll say, you didn’t do any of the work I gave you. You can come up with a ton of excuses (I was waiting for you to give me the big project, I thought about ways to do it, etc.), but it won’t get you anywhere. It’s like a student expecting a teacher to give them credit for homework they thought about doing (or maybe they looked at the problems and figured them out but never wrote the answers down) and expecting to get credit for it so they can pass the class.

       We need to produce results with God.

       When God gives me a peek into His plan, I can get too focused on the result and not look at the process. I almost grow content in just knowing that that’s what will happen. For example, I used to cry and pray for the salvation of one of the people I know. One day God comforted me and told me that that person would be saved. Unfortunately, after that, I grew complacent. I pretty much stopped praying hard or working toward it.

       I think many of us have areas like this. God shows us a plan for our lives (or that of someone else), and we let it comfort us a little too much. Yes, it is God’s plan for it to happen, but we are also meant to play a role in that (whether just by prayer or works, or both) and we’ve been snoozing. We’re not helping to do our part in that promise.

       Tomorrow isn’t ensured. Our days are numbered. While we’ve been sitting by proud of God’s plan for us, life has continued to move but we’ve stopped. Here’s the wake up call for us. Get moving in that promise. Keep praying. Work toward it. If it’s for someone’s salvation (or re-dedication to God), work on your relationship with that person so that you’ll have more influence in their lives and they have more opportunities to see God’s character through you.

       If it’s for something God has told you He will do with you (write a book, be a speaker, start a group, etc.), then start looking up the process to get there. Think of what gifts or character qualities you’ll need to enhance, and start praying about and working on them. Find a mentor in that area. Know what it will take on your part to get there.

       I think too often we forget that there are at least two people at work in God’s plan. We always seem to remember that He has a role to play, but we forget that we have one as well. We need to stop slacking off and do our part, otherwise, God will find a partner who will and we’ll get no credit for it.

       Don’t wait for a “better” time to do good deeds (like when you have more money, more time, more patience, etc.). Do good things NOW.

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.” James 2:15-17 NIV

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10 NIV

Hebrews chapter 11 is so good. It goes through different people who acted in faith and were blessed for doing so. These people saw God’s promises to them fulfilled at different times. Usually, they had to wait a couple of years, but they were blessed because they did. They believed that God would come through on His promises, and so acted in faith. They gave God what was His and obeyed Him. 

       I believe God has a promised land for each of us. It is the place where He calls you and promises that you will have an inheritance.

       Right now, for me, God is calling me to see Chicago saved. He wants me to spread His name, Word, and love here so that He will be glorified. It can be hard to see looking with just physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes I can see it clearly and it is beautiful.

       Chicago is my promised land. It’s not all I want it to be yet, but as I look at it with His plan in mind, I grow more excited.

       Many times, our promised land doesn’t look so promising. We may not see why God thought so much of it. In fact, a lot of times we may feel gypped. Abraham was in the promised land, but he was still living in a tent. He still felt like a foreigner.

       I think a lot of us have misconceptions about the promised land God gives us. We think that we’ll be living easy going lives (we may have trouble once in a while, but we think those will be rare) and that we will be sure that it is ours. We think that it will feel like home. But these verses in Hebrews 11 show us that the opposite is true.

       We can be easily discouraged because we moved in it, yet aren’t seeing God’s blessings immediately. The truth is, it may not ever feel like home. You may never see God’s full plan come to fruition, but that doesn’t make it any less of a promised land.

       One day, Chicago will be His. I may not live to see it, but I know that He has already given me an inheritance here. I am playing a part in seeing His will done and I know the legacy I leave behind will keep going until this city looks exactly as God promised.

       It will be a city with God as its foundation.

       We have to see what God sees when looking at our promised land (read Heb. 11:10, the last sentence, again) and continue working toward seeing that vision become a reality.

       Stop thinking it will be easy and evident to you. Our promised land doesn’t always look like one. A lot of times, God has to reveal its potential to us and show us His vision so we can carry it as we keep moving in faith toward our blessing in seeing our part through. Because it’s our promised land, the devil will fill our minds with doubts so that we never reach our inheritance. That’s why it takes faith to go to and stay in the promised land.

       Legacies don’t come easy. If you want to make a different mark in this world (and leave His imprint), then you have to push against the pattern that’s already being set. Don’t give up because it’s hard or not what you expected. He knows what He’s called you to.

       He doesn’t call us to fail. There will be lasting effects and benefits of what you do even if you don’t see them at the time (or never get to). Don’t let fear dictate your actions. His people don’t run away. They stand tall and strong in faith. The Bible says, “For in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:37-39).

       Things will happen in His timing. He is moving whether you see Him doing so or not. We look for it in others, but sometimes He is just moving in us; refining us to carry out His vision and move closer to the promise He’s given us. 

       Our inheritance isn’t the kind of legacy that can be measured up to by what is visible. It is worth so much more. It is building up to an eternity for people. We are being used to help them encounter and live forever with Him.

       So, I encourage you, stay in your promised land. It will be more than just a blessing for you; it will bless others. But if you don’t, He will build someone else up to take both your inheritance and their own. They will leave the legacy He meant for you to and they will be blessed by Him for it.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NIV

On April 27th, I received my acceptance letter into the grad school I applied to. I was so excited. I knew that God had called me there. It had been a difficult process for me, though. I had to take a ton of tests and pay the last minute registration fees just to get my application in on time. Yet, during the whole process, I held on to the hope and promise that God would come through, and He did.

       How quickly we forget, though.

       I met with my adviser earlier this week and he was telling me the things I needed to do in order to graduate in two years. More tests, paperwork, and applications. It got me pretty nervous, but not as much as trying to figure out how I would pay for all this. More tuition, books, test fees, and background checks. I could see the amount going up and it freaked me out. It didn’t help that after the meeting I registered for summer school and found out I have to pay a late registration fee because it starts in 9 days (which means it would be a huge risk to order my textbooks online because I may not get them in time-so I had to pay the high used books price at the school bookstore).

       As I took care of the loan paperwork last night, I get more anxious and exhausted. I went to bed feeling panicked and nauseated despite my effort not to worry. I kept trying to remind myself to stay focused on the fact that if God brought me here, He would move to keep me here.

       I begged God for peace of mind before I went to sleep.

       I woke up thinking about the total amount in loans I would graduate with, but then I felt Him assure me. He is going to meet me I just need to keep going until I reach the point where we’re supposed to meet up. He promised He’d be there. If I quit because of fear, then I’ll never see Him where I was meant to in this season. He is coming, so I have to keep moving by faith.

       I could feel the questions start to creep up again, though: Yeah, but when will He come? Will my faith get tested like Job’s? I don’t want to have to suffer and lose a lot. ‘~’

       He saw me trying not to freak out and brought me the peace I asked for. He had one of my mentors randomly (not for God, of course) text me Isaiah 41:10, which says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

       [sigh  <3 ] He has me in this. I know it. I think the reason we can be afraid anyway, though, is because it’s unseen by us how He will move. We limit Him by our limitations (time, resources, etc.), but He created everything. It all belongs to Him. He has all the resources in the world and more!

       We need to remember the Who behind our faith. I don’t believe in “blind faith.” I can clearly see the One my faith is in.

       We must have faith in His love for us and in His character. He never changes. He’s not fickle. This alone should give us confidence to keep going and wait for Him to come through in His promises.

       Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

       Faith overshadows fear. It’s bigger in all respects, yet we allow fear to keep us from moving forward as though it is greater. Let your faith give you a boost so that you can step over your fears.

       The secret to having faith and keeping your confidence is focusing on Him, not the circumstance. You give whatever you focus on the most power. This isn’t to say that God loses power, you just don’t give Him the chance to use it because you’re too busy trying to eliminate the situations where He wants to show it to you (and use it on your behalf).       

Last weekend I went on a youth retreat with a ministry I am youth leader for. The pastor asked the students to answer two questions: 1. Who were you before the retreat? and 2. Who are you now? He then asked people to post it up on Facebook and call it “Allow Me to Introduce Myself.” Here’s mine. It is a mixture of my more recent and distant past as well as what He spoke into me at the retreat.

“[Jesus] went in and said to them, ‘Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’” Mark 5:39 NIV

There are instances in the Bible where dead people are brought to life by God. This morning, He gave me a greater depth of understanding the story of the dead girl from Mark 5:35-43. He showed me how powerful words can be in bringing people life or death spiritually.

       In the story, the girl’s father, Jairus, went to Jesus while she was sick because he knew she was dying. He asked Jesus to put His hands on her so that she would live (Mark 5:22-25). Jesus agreed to do so. Before He got to her, though, they received news that the girl had died.

       Jairus saw that his daughter was dying and didn’t know what else he could do, so he went to Jesus. We need to learn from Jairus’ example. Instead of giving up on his daughter, he went to look for God. When we see people dying spiritually, we have two options to choose from: we can either give up on that person, or we can intercede on their behalf and ask Jesus to bring them to life.

       While Jairus was waiting for Jesus to come to his daughter, men from his house came and told him “Your daughter is dead….Why bother the teacher any more?” (v.35). While we are trying to intercede, the devil will send along people to discourage us. They will tell us that there is no hope. Many times, though, those doubts will come on their own. We’ll start to think nothing more can be done or that the person will not come back to life, so we start to wonder why we should even bother praying for them or trying to speak life into them.

       Jesus heard these people tell Jairus this and He saw that Jairus was about ready to give up. He encouraged him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v.36). God doesn’t want you to give up. He wants you to keep moving in faith. He wants you to believe that there is no circumstance or situation-no death that He cannot bring life from.

       A lot of times we think people are too far gone, so we lose hope, but God can redeem anyone. The beautiful part is, He can and will use their former death to bring life to others.

       When they got to Jairus’ house, it says that “Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him” (vv.38-40).

       We often get to a point where we start to mourn people before it’s truly over. So many had given up hope in the girl. They didn’t think anything could be done for her, even after Jesus told them that she was merely asleep.

       Many times God puts people on our hearts or gives us confirmation that they will come to Him, but like the people that had been mourning the girl, we laugh at Him. We question and minimize Him to His face. We ask, “What can He do? He can’t move them?” But the real question is, “What can’t He do.”

       We see death where God sees slumber.

       Jesus kicked everyone out of the house except the girl’s parents and the disciples that were with Him. He went to the girl, took her by the hand, and spoke to her: “‘Talitha koum!’ (which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’)” (v.41). 

       Often, when someone was brought back from the dead, Jesus or one of His followers would make everyone leave so that they could bring her to life. This is because these people are only speaking death and hopelessness into those who are “dead” and so, they cannot hear God speaking life to them above all the commotion. Even though these people are only spiritually asleep, they start to believe that they are dead and allow themselves to die. Many times, if we want to speak life into someone, we need to take them away from the commotion so that they can hear and receive it.

       Once Jesus spoke life into the little girl, she immediately stood up and walked around (v.42).

       If you think you are dead or your story is over-that God can’t and won’t do anything with you-, it’s probably because you’ve been hearing the wailing and commotion for to long. You’ve been fed so much self-negativity that you have internalized it. Get alone with God, let Him speak life to you. Allow Him to wake you from your slumber.

       Jesus told the parents to give their daughter something to eat once she got up (v. 43).

       If God has recently woken you up, you cannot just rely on those waking words to sustain you. You need to keep feeding yourself His word. The negativity is still going to be there so you need to make sure you have enough of Him to get you through it. People will keep trying to speak death to you. They’ll wait for you to prove that you have been dead all along. That’s why it’s important to keep spending time with Him so that He can continue speaking life into you.

       For those who call themselves His: we have been commissioned to speak life into those in a spiritual slumber. Even if they go back to it once you have made your first (or even 50th move), don’t give up. He has started something through you and is going to keep working. He will use you (and maybe others) to keep speaking life to the person until he or she finally believes it and truly wakes up.

       To the ones having trouble standing up and walking: make your move. You’re not dead yet.

“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV

Second Timothy is a letter Paul wrote to give Timothy guidance in his role and in how to go about ministry. Something God really made stick out for me while reading the letter is this verse. Through it, He reminded me that those in authority are charged with correcting and rebuking those under them.

       I am terrible with receiving those two things. Recently, I’ve been having issues with it again. I didn’t understand why, I just knew that they would make me shut down. I knew the person’s intent was only to help me get better, so my reaction to it was always confusing. It was while listening to a sermon, that I finally realized why they were so hard for me.

       I have seen both correction and rebuke abused in both my life and in that of those I love. I have been put down, made to feel like I’m not good enough or like I was unworthy. In the end, I wasn’t built up, I was torn down. It’s no wonder I have difficulty receiving and accepting these two things.

       God helped me realize that I shut myself down when I get corrected or rebuked because I am afraid. I don’t want anyone to make me feel bad about myself again. I don’t want them to hurt me by telling me I’m not good enough and by taking away my self-value. Or, other times, I knew that I would either cry or be angry in response, but I also knew that there was no reason for me to respond that way. So, I shut myself down so that I wouldn’t respond in those ways.

       It felt so good to finally understand my reaction to it, but that wasn’t enough. God really wanted me to have the right perspective on this. He showed me that correction and rebuke are good and necessary for growth. It’s how we evaluate ourselves or get help from others in doing so. 

       If I want to be after His heart, I really need to listen to the things people tell me I need to improve on and not give it a negative twist. I’ve realized that those who love you most will want you to get better. They will show you how.

       I want to be clear, though, verbal or emotional abuse is not how God wants His people to treat each other. There is a difference between correction that builds up and correction that tears down. I’m sure I will encounter people who try to do the later again, but that’s where knowing Him and what He says about me will help.

       Ideally, I will respond in a Godly way and move on. I can’t let people determine my mood. No one has the power to take away my self-value but me. I can choose to believe them or Him (Who never lies and Who knows me better than anyone else). I know what God thinks of me and that His purposes are to see me grow more like Him, share Him, and to one day be with Him. If I’m good enough for Him, then I’m good enough period.

       Don’t question your existence. You are worth a lot (worth a Savior, in fact!).

       Even if someone does offend or hurt us, we shouldn’t just shut down, put up a wall, or give up. It’s difficult but He will deal with those who warp His plan. Leave them to Him and look for anyway that you can actually learn from what they said or how they acted. If you think the things they said about you are invalid, check with a leader or mentor that you trust. See if they see any truth in it and get healthy correction and guidance. If there really wasn’t any truth to the negative correction, then at least take it as a lesson in how not to approach someone about their failings. Remember how much it hurt to be treated that way and have patience with those you are charged to correct and rebuke.

       Teamed with God, we can use everything we go through, whether negative or positive, to make us better. Granted, it’s harder with the negative things, but we really need to evaluate ourselves in those instances- why it hurt us, and what our reaction says about where we are in our walk and how spiritually mature we are. Learn, forgive, let go, grow, and keep going in your walk toward Him.