I do not know if you need to hear the words you are made worthy in Christ. You are a new creation. Christ has redeemed you and removed all the stains of your past. If you have accepted Christ as your savior.
Have you ever struggled to believe you are worthy and enough?
I have many times and sometimes my feet and mind want me to take me back there. But as I am a new creation in Christ and made whole in Him leads me to believe the truth instead of lies.
In case you need to hear this you are made worthy in Christ. He has saved you from the pit of sin and raised you up with Him. And you are not alone, you are with Christ. You are raised from the dead and made alive.
This week I sent out my monthly newsletter for the blog and it was about how we are made worthy in Christ. In how our identity is not in or of this world but it is in Christ alone through His redemption on the cross.
Besides, our identity and worthiness are not based on accomplishments or good works but just through Christ. We cannot earn worthiness no matter what we do. Instead, we accept Salvation through Christ and accept that He redeemed us and made us worthy. Christ's saving grace has made us whole!
For example, I have been starting to study in Romans how God's judgment is righteous and He shows no partiality. But also, His kindness leads us to repentance to turn us away from sin.
This reminded me of how in Colossians chapter three, Paul was writing to the church in Colossae about how we are a new creation in Christ. And how we are raised with Christ, so we must put off the old self of flesh and put on the new self, the mind of Christ.
Thus, the apostle Paul points out how Christ has made us worthy compared to our limited finite abilities which cannot strive to come even close.
See Christ did all the hard work we just get the easy part in accepting His gift of salvation. The point is we do not have to strive to become worthy because Christ made us worthy in Him.
Here's the thing, we need to boldly put down the thoughts of unworthiness and insecurity that are weighing us down in guilt and shame. We do not have to walk around with these burdens and lies swirling around in our heads or hearts.
Instead, we get the benefit of putting on the mind of Christ and walking in freedom. Plus, we get the benefit of being raised up with Christ.
In complete transparency, I am going to share one of the things that helps me the most to put down the thoughts of unworthiness and putting on the mind of Christ. Which is, confessing the negative self-talking thoughts that enter into my mind and laying them before the throne of Jesus.
It is simply taking those thoughts captive and confessing them as wrong or lies and asking God to replace those thoughts with the truth. Now let me just say we have to keep doing this and laying everything before Christ.
There is no band-aid for negative self-talk or any kind of sin. It is laying it before God and turning away from it. However, I know it is not always easy to put it down. I pick back up at times even multiple times a day. The point is, continuing to put it back before God so that He can turn it around so we can see and hear the truth.
We cannot base our worthiness based on actions or a to-do list. The only thing we can base our worthiness on is Christ Jesus.
In all honesty, I have never looked at negative self-talk as a sin before, but taking a step back, it does go against how God created us. It is dishonoring what He created, and who He created us to be. It is slandering his creation and slandering ourselves. It is not life-giving.
Ouch I know those words hurt, they hurt even writing them!
Let me go further, why are we so hard on ourselves in how we talk to ourselves and how we process thoughts? Why is it so easy to go to the worst possible thing instead of jumping to the best possible thing to happen?
Although, we can all be our own worst enemy when it comes to negative self-talk and choosing to look for our worthiness outside of God. And it gets us into a heap of trouble. Because it is believing something based on a lie.
For example, sometimes lies look like partial truths or all-most truths. Yet, that does not give us a get out of jail-free card like in the board games we used to play as kids.
We still need to be obedient to God and yield to the Holy Spirit's leading for direction and discernment. To get out of the cycle of negative thoughts by renewing our minds in God's truth.
We can renew our minds by digging into scripture and sitting in the presence of God. But it does take obedience and self-control to change our habits in renewing our minds to believe the thoughts of truth, not the lies. And by letting go of the negative things that have been holding us back.
Thus, by letting go of all the negative thoughts and replacing them with the truth we are changing the habit from negative to finding the truth and the positive.
Just remember to give yourself grace in letting go of the negative thoughts and habits. It takes time to learn a new habit. Plus, by letting go of all the negative thought patterns you gain a new perspective on how God moves within your life that you have never seen before.
In ending this post I'd like for you to think about how and take away how letting go of the negative thought patterns is going to change your life? Like how is it going to change you're thinking patterns?
And remember you're worthiness is within Christ not of this world or what people think of you. You are not here to please people. You are here to serve God and love others.
References:
English Standard Version Study Bible (2008) Crossway Publishing, Wheaton ILL,
Picture by: wix.com
Comments