RECAP: We ended last week talking about the importance of differences and how they can be used to spur important conversations. We also meditated on the FACT that difference does not mean defect. I hope you've found freedom in that this past week. I hope you've allowed yourself grace in the areas that you have classified as negative, and I hope that you've found that you can be confident in what makes you, YOU.
Now, lets take it a step further. Being confident in your differences leads to being confident in who you're made to be. This is important. Too many girls base their worth on popularity, boys, grades, clothes, likes, or follows. Let's think about that for a minute. What is worth? By definition it is, the value equivalent to that of someone or something under consideration; the level at which someone or something deserves to be valued or rated. If you have a really old piece of jewelry and you want to know its worth where do you go? Do you take it to someone who is an expert in golf balls? Do you post it on social media and see how many people like or comment on it? Do you let someone else take it and break it down into many pieces and keep what they want of it? NO. So why is it that we do that with ourselves? When we find ourselves feeling less than, why do we search for a boy to help us feel like a 10? When we feel fat, ugly, or dumb, why do we post a revealing picture on Instagram, Snapchat, or Tik Tok to be convinced that we are more than the things we hear in our heads? If taking a precious piece of jewelry to the wrong expert isn't good enough then why is it good enough for us? It's not.
Confidence comes from the creator.
For a very long time I looked for confidence through acceptance of others. I put the fate of my confidence in all the wrong hands. I realized that one day I'd feel on top of the world because a boy snapchatted me and said I was pretty. The next day I'd be crying on the floor because I only had 20 likes on a picture I thought I looked really pretty in. The never ending loop of chasing confidence started to weigh on me. I was broken down, unidentified, and lost.
Here was my problem. I had a false since of confidence because it relied on the approval of the world. When I placed my worth in the one who created me, I began to find an unwavering sense of confidence. I found that differences made me unique. Unique started to look appealing because I realized that we are not created to be the same. I found hope, love, grace, and beauty in the design that God had called Madelynn Nicole Barker. I stopped looking at my likes, the boys, and acceptance from others to define my worth. My worth was in the expert's hands now. He is the best artist, the divinely inspired, the master of creation and he created ME. He eloquently spoke my existence into being, and it is an honor that he would design me in His image. When I placed my worth in the Father's hands, confidence was no longer something I longed for. It was something I was given. When you realize who designed you, your differences look more like beauty marks. Thank you Jesus for the marks you've placed on me. And most importantly, thank you Jesus for letting us know you and being known by our creator.
I hope you see now why I've titled this Catching Confidence. Honestly I just found out why I named it that. I thought it was catchy and cute. But through writing this, I've realized the importance of the title. You start off chasing confidence, but when you know the Creator, you catch confidence that endures. I started at broken down and ended up being lifted up. I was unidentified and now I'm known. I was lost and now I'm found, and how sweet it is that we are known.
2 things to remember this week.
Difference does not mean defect.
Confidence comes from the Creator.
Praying for you my friend and sister! This week, take time to meditate on these verses.
Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.Luke 12:7
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:13-14
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
You're on your way to catching confidence. Come back next week for another important lesson I learned about being confident in who God created me to be.
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