"There is Nothing Wrong with You..."

I was just thinking about how much I accept who I am now...

I remember the echoes of my mum reaffirming me on MSN, just weeks ago... I could still hear her now, as I remember bits and pieces of what she said to me the other day- "There is nothing wrong with you... God has made you who you are... You must not let others affect you so much... Don't be tied down by worries-la..."

"Hmm... Nothing wrong with me, huh? I really hope so... Things have been really crazy these days and sometimes I can't help but to think that certain things happen because perhaps of me. I am not patient enough or I am overly sensitive.. or I am not this enough... that enough.. I need to work on this.. and that.. and I can't blame the other person for doing this, since I am bla bla bla... I also have troubles with this and that... Maybe if I was better in handling people.. or maybe if I talked more.. if I smile more... if I... if I.. if I... then others would accept me better and I'll be a happier person... bla bla bla..." and it never ends. Get how crazy my thoughts are? It gets on my nerves too sometimes.

As I opened up my devotional bible for women (New Living Translation Version), this page caught my eyes. Let me share it with you...

Just The Way You Are Acceptance, Spiritual Growth, Family
"The Lord has declared today that you are His people, His own special treasure, just as He promised, and that You must obey all His commands" Deuteronomy 26:18

God's people tend to suffer a lot of false guilt over sins they have already confessed and received forgiveness for. The big ones and the minor ones. Even attitudes. We long to live lives that are beyond reproach. We want to be perfect parents, perfect children, perfect friends, perfect Christians, perfect people. But we are not always empathic and forgiving. We have trouble demonstrating unconditional love. We are not always kind. Sometimes we even have temper tantrums. And sometimes we are blanketed by depression.

Why do we have all these struggle? Why is it so difficult for us to see ourselves as God sees us- on the one hand, sinners who cannot be good enough to please him; on the other hand, his beloved children, forgiven and restored? One reason, as we've discovered, is that we're preoccupied with the opinions of other people rather than with God's. We've adopted this world's standards, forgetting all that the Father has to say about us.

But as we begin to recognize and accept our standing in God's value system, we can be free from the struggle for self-esteem, the maneuvers to bolster our egos, the fight for our place in pecking order. Freedom will come when our views of ourselves don't depend on the looks, physique or intelligence we inherited, the family we were born into the size of our bank account, or even how others treat us. A general principle is: When you feel comfortable about yourself, about who you are and what you have, you can direct your focus away from yourself and towards others.

- Norma Kvindlog & Esther Lindgren Anderson
From Beyond Me (Carol Strem, III: Tyndale, 1987), 213-14

Taken from "Sanctuary: A Devotional Bible for women (NLT)"


A timely message. A perfect reminder for me. Thank you God for speaking into my situations again.