As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What you think about when you think about yourself matters and ultimately is who you will become. Read on for more encouragement …
Over the past several months, God has gently been nudging me to deeply consider once again what type of woman, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend that I want to be. This isn’t the first time He’s asked me to do this, nor do I think it will be the last. But with each and every season of reexamination I receive more clarity on who I know He made me to be and what I want to be remembered for.
God’s invitation came after a series of hard weeks with our firstborn, that, while I’m not proud of it, ended in raised voices and tears for every person in our household. One particular night after both the boys were asleep, I walked into the garage so that my crying wouldn’t wake them.
Negative thoughts started to bombard me and try to pull me into a victim mentality. Gosh, I am failing and ruining everything. I’m just too tired for all of this. Why is this happening to me? This isn’t fair. Maybe I don’t have what it takes. Why did I think I could handle having two kids? Sitting in a puddle of tears and snot, I said to myself, “No. I’m not partnering with this line of thinking anymore. This is not who I want to be. I don’t want to be remembered for being a frustrated, overstimulated, uninspired, sad person, and I know that’s not who I really am. God, help.”
Immediately, God reminded me of a conversation between my Dad and I a few months earlier. We’d talked about some of his experiences growing up in a little town in Michigan, and how his mother shaped who he became. “Ida Bell was a calm force,” he said. “She was always there for us and loved us well.”
I never had the privilege of meeting my grandmother Ida Bell, as she passed away when my Dad was a young adult, but I’ve been fortunate to have a wonderful friendship with my other grandmother, Marlene. She, too, is a calm force and has always been there for me, loving me well. As I reflected in the garage that night, in my heart I knew that type of person — the person who is a calm force, always there and loving her people well — was who God made me to be.
“Lauren, that is the truth about who you are,” I felt the Father say. “You just need to see yourself rightly. Remember my word, Proverbs 23:7, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ If you keep thinking of yourself as failing, unfit, angry, tired, etc., then that is what you will see more of. Come up here. See yourself the way I see you.”
See yourself the way I see you. This is God’s invitation to all of us — to get His perspective in a way that captivates our hearts and helps us see who we really are.
Momentary struggles or feelings cannot take away the truth: Because of Christ we are made new and being renewed each and every day. Because of Christ we lack nothing and have access to Living Waters that give us what we need to be who He made us to be. Because of Christ we don’t have to believe the narrative that we’re too much, not enough, a failure, etc. Because of Christ we can overcome all negative thinking and victim mentalities to be more than conquerors through Him and radiantly shine His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and more to the world.
Do you need to reconsider the type of person you want to be? Do you need fresh perspective that will help you walk out of whatever lies you are believing about yourself and into the truth? My prayer for you in this season is that God would remind you who you really are and that you would see yourself rightly for the amazing new creation in Christ that you are. With God’s help, we really can choose the type of person we want to be. And that’s a convicting, powerful and beautiful thing.
Pray with me: Jesus, thank you that I don’t have to succumb to negative narratives about who I am or who you made me to be. I ask you to speak to my heart truth that will propel me forward. Show me what labels or untruths I need to leave behind. Give my heart something new to meditate on that will positively impact who I am becoming.
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