
Today's "A to Z Blogging Challenge" brings us to the letter B. And I knew I'd blog on belief, but this post has taken a bit different direction.
Experts in nutrition tell us that we are what we eat. But do we realize that also we are what we believe?
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Image Credit: U. S. National Archives http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/5589176479/ |
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Image Credit: U. S. National Archives http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/4546092598/ |
Do I consider those who have complimented me to be liars? Well, no, I don't. Do I think they're deluded about me? Not exactly. Then if they are telling the truth about what they see in me, why don't I believe those statements? Why don't I let them take root in my life?
Even more important to ask: why do I more readily believe criticism, especially the discouraging kind?
It's as if one takes the comments — whether merely offhand or intentional — and nourishes them as gardener would do with a cherished plant, hoping for a beautiful bloom to burst forth in the spring. But those criticisms do not produce beautiful blossoms, especially when magnified beyond whatever aspect was meant as constructive feedback. Ugly comments spoken in mean tones can become weeds — even invasive species — to the person who is too apt to believe them.
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Image Credit: National Agricultural Library, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/kudzu.shtml |
Nurturing negativity in your own life is all about what you're choosing to believe. That's one of the numerous truths I've learned since becoming a Christian.* And the good news (other than Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection and what all those events mean for humankind) is that I now know I have freedom — to believe that I have worth... and a worth that I don't have to drum up from inside. I don't have to try to manufacture it on my own. That sense of worth comes from knowing that not only am I a cherished creation of my Heavenly Father but also that I am His child.
His love frees up me up to believe what He says about me, and He gives me not only the will to pull up the lie-weeds in my mental garden but also the strength to do so. And the perseverance to keep going back to His Word and sowing those truth-seeds and watering them in my life.
* I have a blog post drafted in which I tell my story. When I publish it, I'll link to it here on this one.
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