Lies we believe...

This is from "I can teach my child" blog at: www.icanteachmychild.net. It was so good I had to share it with you! This is DEFINITELY an area I struggle in.  Head over to her page, leave her a comment, and tell her I sent you! Love y'all. Happy Monday!

 

A Lesson Learned: The Lies (Part 1)

August 7, 2011 by Jenae  — 6 Comments

There are two lies that us women have been tricked into believing that are especially detrimental to our feelings of inadequacy and a lack of self-worth.  These lies are:

• We can do everything well.
• We can make everyone like us and approve of us.

These lies were recently brought to my attention as I was reading a chapter from Feathers from My Nest by Beth Moore.  The reason these lies are so dangerous is because they make us feel as if nothing we do is ever good enough.  We can always do better and we can always please everyone.

Let’s just nip these two lies in the bud before they form another stronghold in any of our lives.  This week I’ll talk about the first lie and next week we’ll look at the second…

We can’t do everything well.  No matter how hard we try…we will never be good at everything.

I have been keenly aware of this lie from childhood.  I had one friend who seemed to be good at everything, she was artistically gifted, great at crafts, a terrific athlete, and beautiful beyond belief.  I always felt inferior because I wasn’t really good at any of those things…so I expounded tons and tons of energy and trying aimlessly to become someone I wasn’t.

Even now, I have struggled with feelings of not measuring up.  I have amazing talented friends and family members who each have a particular strength (or two or three) that I desperately wish I had.  Some who are great at decorating, who are amazing mothers with the unending patience, whose thoughtfulness of others exceeds anyone I’ve ever known, and others who are great at entertaining and making you feel special.  I want all of those gifts.

But God didn’t create us to compare to one another.  He created us with a special, unique purpose that only we can fulfill.  Finding that purpose is between us and God.  Period.  No one else needs to be involved (except perhaps our immediate family) in figuring out what God’s purpose is for our lives and how we can best use the spiritual gifts He’s given us.  And we certainly don’t need to look at the gifts of others to try to find our own.  They are given to us by God himself.

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” -1 Corinthians 12:4-11

Our main objective should be to figure out what gift(s) God has given us and use them to His glory.  We won’t be good at everything.  God doesn’t call us to be.  He wants us to spend our time and energy accomplishing the purposes He has set out for us to do rather than comparing our gifts to the gifts He’s given others.

Now, please don’t misinterpret me and think that we should use this as an excuse.  Just because your “gift” isn’t cleaning, doesn’t mean you can let your house go to pot.  :)  We still need to fulfill our “duties.”  We just don’t need to expound any more energy trying to be someone we’re not.  Rather, we can fine-tune our strengths to fulfill our God-given destinies.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,  so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”  -Philippians 1: 9-11

None of us will be able to “discern what is best” for us without seeking the counsel of our Savior.  Let’s ask Him and see if He’ll make each of our “gifts” known to us so that we may make it our heart’s desire to “do” those gifts well.