A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak to teens at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting. My topic was the same as what I just presented to youth leaders at a conference workshop, and the basis of my upcoming book. A topic I’m passionate for teenagers to get: Finding true identity and worth in Christ.
But teenagers aren’t the only ones who struggle to feel their worth. We all do. We all forget what Christ says is true about us. We all buy into the lies of where this world says worth comes from. And we obsess over others’ opinions of us.
Let me tell you, just because I write and speak about identity and worth does not mean I am immune from attack. If anything maybe it makes me more vulnerable; seems to me Satan likes to work that way.
So the very night I spoke at FCA I came home to hear about a difficult meeting my husband had been apart of. The words spoken to him had stung and left him beating himself up. He had forget his secure identity in Christ, and so did I when I heard what was said about me.
Most of the night I laid awake consumed with the situation. On one hand, I felt justifiable anger over the unfair expectations placed on him as the pastor and me as the pastor’s wife. While at the same time, the condemnation cast upon me over how I might have failed filled me with self-doubt and insecurity.
The thing is I did fail to live up to someone’s expectations of me. Never mind they were expectations I didn’t even know existed. It really doesn’t matter because no matter how hard I might try I can’t control how someone else views me. And will never perfectly measure up to who other people want me to be.
Not allowing other people’s opinions to rule us though is no easy task. What we tend to do is bend over backwards to prove our worth. Or, we gossip about and judge them in an effort to feel better about ourselves. Either way, what they think and say about us matters more than what the God of the univere says is true.
When we start to sink under the weight of others expectations or opinions of us, what we need most is to be reminded of who Jesus is for us and who we are in Him. I say this little catch phrase all the time because it is the gospel truth we need to constantly hear in order to reorient our minds back to our secure standing.
As I told the high schoolers the night of FCA, when we know our true identity is in Christ, we can be okay when other’s don’t like us, when we fail to measure up, or we think we are less-than.
We can be okay because Jesus’ opinion of us never changes. For those who know him as their Savior, Jesus traded identities with you.
- He performed perfectly for you because you don’t.
- He never failed for you because you do.
- He always measured up to the standard because you can’t.
So when I’m tempted to beat myself up over someone else not liking me or thinking ill of me, I need to remember who Jesus declares me to be. Jesus never thinks less of me. In fact, his love for me is as far as the east is to the west and nothing will ever change that. I am more than enough!
This is the truth we need to speak to ourselves to combat Satan’s lies and others’ opinion. This is truth we need to remind ourselves all the time. This is the only truth that can bring peace to our insecure souls.
