James 3: 8 - 10 NKJV
I was talking with a friend this week who was struggling with self confidence. It seems that she had been listening to the disparaging words of those around her for far too long. Now, even she was at the point that maybe these words were true. Believing in this false narative, she had developed a low opinion of herself. What amazed me is that I saw myself in her situation. Yeah, there was a time when I fell into that trap of believing the negative words others told me. All of the awful things they said that I was, I bought into it hook line and sinker. One thing that I know in my heart is that if we are to believe that we are indeed in a spiritual battle, then we already know who it is that tosses those false accusations at us. It is none other than satan the accuser. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that our heavenly Father cannot and has not used the words of others to communicate His desires to us. However, I really don't think that God would present to His children a steady stream of negativity. That's just not who He is. We are told that God is Love {1 John 4:8}. So, if it is in Gods very nature to Love His children, are we to believe that He would waste His time bringing them down? I don't think so. I've lost count of just how many self help books there are out there that address this issue. Now, all of these feel good novels might be useful for a time, but they really don't address the real issue. That being our knowledge of who it is that we truly are. See, it's easy for our accuser to find victims if we're not aware of who we really are. So, who is it that I am? Well, I know that I am not of the world, which means that my identity lies with my heavenly Father. It is God who breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. It is Christ Jesus who lives through me today {Galations 2:20}. This is who I am. All of that other trash is just negative words given by the accuser. This is exactly what I told my friend, you are not that person they say you are. Of course, as it was with me, hearing and believing are two different things entirely.
5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4: 5 - 6 NKJV
I remember watching a documentry on navy SEAL training some time ago which gave me a interesting take on hearing and believing. There was a certain master chief who, each and every morning, would greet his students with one simple phrase..."success is what we do!" To most of the students this was just their teacher blowing smoke, until one morning in the ocean surf. After a long night of swimming exercises, they learned the difference between hearing and believing. As each swimmer came ashore, the chief would ask them, "what is it we do?" "Fight," the first man ashore said...back in the water he went. This continued until one go getter recalled his instructers words. "What do we do?" "SUCCEED," Said the swimmer fully expecting to be sent back into the surf. "Good morning, Mr. Goodman, you're secure." Needless to say, it didn't take long before each and every student gave the correct response. Hearing versus believing. I think of all of the time I've wasted worrying about what it is that others thought of me. Wasted time. If we place that much power in the words others tell us, what power will our own words of affirmation give us? It doesn't take some feel good self help book to convince us of our own value. No, what it takes is our own realization of our value to our heavenly Father. It will never be God who will fill our heads with words of inferiority. That's not who He is. Once we are secure in the knowledge of who we really are, those negative words we hear will not make it past the filter of the truth. So, who are you?
6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.7For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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