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Over the past 2 weeks we interrupted our new series, A Woman of Virtue, Becoming the Best You to bring you a special message about Sexual Abuse. Tonight I want to talk about what it means to become the best you.
As we go forth to embrace this new season, we have to understand what this means, and what it looks like. Before getting into tonight’s message I want to share a True Story with you.
True Story
When I was young, I can remember only going by the name Kat. This was my childhood nickname all the way through my late adulthood years but I can remember being so upset with being name Kathryn {my real name, the name God gave me} and I remember privately saying to myself “Why did my mom name me Kathryn?”. I could not stand that name and every time I thought about that name, I was like uggghhh…but you know what I found out? It was a dark part of me that hated Kathryn. It was Kat, an ungodly alter that was there to destroy the real me.
So I was unable to be the best me as a young child, a teenager, a young adult, etc. I had a disadvantage from a young child in having a dark part of me that I thought was just me, {it was a part of my personality} when really God didn’t put it there. It was not supposed to be there but since I had no true covering in my life, this dark side, this alter of Kat played a big part in my life for many years and it went against everything that God would want for my life.
Food for thought…
If you have a nickname that you go by more often than your god given name, chances are you may be dealing with a piece of you that goes against your destiny. And you may be thinking this is who you are but really it’s not who God created you to be.
Getting into tonight’s message: Becoming the Best You
What does this mean? How does this look?
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
David wrote a psalm:
Psalm 139- New International Version (NIV)
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
David fully understood that he was fearfully and wonderfully made, that he was knitted together in a special way, that he was made in the secret place and that God has a book, that he wrote all the details to David’s life before David even came down to this earth to experience life.
David knew God, he knew the heart of God so he understood this revelation fully and we are know different than David.
God knows!
God knows every part, every detail of our lives from the beginning to the end. And this is why he encourages us in a special way because he knows how our story will end.
Many of us count ourselves out before we even start to live for God. Some of the paths that we’ve decided to take makes us feel unworthy and far away from God. We live our lives without God or only let him in so far and then we feel like there’s no way that God can love us because of who we’ve become to be. We decide to run away or hide from God but do you understand that God runs, and chases and searches for that one who leaves the camp, Why? So that one who strayed away would not be lost.
In Matthew 18:12-14 Jesus said:
If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Change our Minds
We have to stop thinking that there’s no way of return, we may not say this to ourselves but our action at times speak louder than words.
At one time, I was far away from God and I can tell you what drew me in, His Love.
His Love and his Grace caught my attention, it touched my life and I was in awe.
Ephesians 4:7
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
I didn’t know God like I should had but I remember being in situations where my spirit cried out to God and I God meant me, right where I was at and it started to build up my faith, and I started to understand the goodness of God because I knew it wasn’t me that got myself out of those situations. I knew it was God. I didn’t understand it but I just knew.
God's Love
His love and grace melts your heart and it makes you want to become better.
Scriptures speaks about “Love and how it covers a multitude of sin”. God covered me with His love and my heart started to change. I started to be more aware of what I needed to change in my life. My heart was softened to the things of God and I remember crying here and there because God became real to me.
Compassion and Grace for ourselves
Now at times, because of the decisions we made, we become too hard on ourselves and we don’t give ourselves the grace that God has given us.
I learned something knew from my 14 year old daughter over the weekend. She’s been taking a class for little ladies and her teacher was speaking about having compassion but the interesting thing was to have compassion for ourselves. Encourage ourselves as we would a friend and not beat ourselves up if we make a mistake. Allow for ourselves to receive compassion and grace, learning from the decision we made. This will help us move forward and not create an opportunity to fall and stay down. Sometimes we can be our own worse enemy and God doesn't want us to look at ourselves in such a way. He wants us to grow, learn, and become wise to the things that come across our path in life.
See you next week for more!
