Self confidence all comes from the thoughts in our mind.
I am sure all who read my Blog and my comments on theirs, will think I am a very self confident person.
Well, this may surprise you, because I am not!
It's taken me years to build up confidence.
And still I have times of terrible self destruction in my mind.
WORDS...
Our Words to our self..
And the Words of others to us!
Can do much to destroy our self esteem and confidence.
In my first marriage (over thirty years) I was constantly told I was stupid.
So much so, that I believed it.
and I sometimes still tell myself this, often aloud!!
Then I have to remind myself, WHO I am in Christ.
And that God loves me, just as I am.
In His Word.....and His Word is truth,
He tells me He lovingly formed me.
“And yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, and you are the potter.
We all are formed by your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8)
I was formed by God's hand, now that can make me feel better!
By this I know, I am not so bad after all.
Sometimes our thoughts are completely wrong.
Our mind can run away, thinking something that is not true.
When this happens I/you/we, need to ask ourselves.
"Where is the evidence to what I am thinking?"
An Example:
A friend doesn't call you, so YOU THINK they don't care.
*When the truth is, they have problems of their own and they are waiting for you to call them.
You attend a new church and not many, or no one, come to greet you.
So you feel unworthy, unwanted.... and walk away, despondant, never to return.
*INSTEAD, you could walk forward and introduce yourself to those around you.
Proverbs 23:7 says..
"As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is."
We think with our feelings, and our emotions. So that's where the devil attacks.
In our most vulnerable place.
He wants us to feel unwanted and unloved.
He wants to reduce our self image, and esteem.
He wants to take away our confidence, that we are beloved of God.
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against principalities,
against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Ephesians 6:12
When I get down in spirit and my thoughts are misconstrued.
I speak scripture aloud because I know it is the Sword of the Word..
I know that if I resist the devil, he will flee from me.
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God
for pulling down strongholds.
2 Corinthians 10:4
Because...
"I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me;
and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20
AMEN
Refresh your soul.....God loves me/you/us.
So true! A small group of us have been studying 'Battlefield of the Mind' by Joyce Meyer and it has been very helpful in tackling this problem. Have a lovely day Crystal.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. My wife grew up being beat half to death by her father and worked to death by her mother. Plus, her father was constantly telling her how stupid she was. If she hadn't been saved at age 13, I don't think she would have had the strength to make it to adulthood. The Lord pulled her through it, but she still bears the scars.
ReplyDeleteHello Carol, I will phone you. xx
ReplyDeleteHi Gorges, That is so sad and unfortunatly often true. How my heart goes out to your wife. I praise God she now has you because I am sure you will esteem her..God bless you both.
Oh my goodness Crystal Mary - we are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much a like here.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am trying to teach the GS this too.
Love,
sandie
We ARE God's beloved! And we cannot trust our feelings, they will lead us astray. God's promises are what matters. You are a beautiful person, and that shines through on your blog.
ReplyDeleteAmen, thank you for sharing this
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Crystal :) Inspiring one. Thanks for sharing :) God bless :) xx
ReplyDeleteSure needed to read this today. Thanks for sharing. :)
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thank you for sharing this - emotions seem to way heavy these days!
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks for sharing this with us.. I really needed it today.. I don't have alot of cnfidence in myself at times..Blessings, Susie
ReplyDeleteHi Crystal Mary....thank you for your open and honest sharing. This picture of the brain drew me into read your post and your post inspired. Have a great day out there
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this encouraging post!
ReplyDeleteBlessings~
Wonderful, PERFECT post, Crystal Mary. I can so identify with many issues here-- a first husband who demeaned me, the words I have said to myself at times--I sometimes think our own thoughts and words may be more of a blow to our self-confidence than other's words. "Take all thoughts captive..." Over the years I have read much about teaching (especially) young women and children in general, how to build and lift their self-esteem. Frankly, I never really possessed any measurable amount of self-esteem until I full realized that God made me, knows me, and loves me. Can you imagine? GOD loves me! Hey, I feel quite important right now!
ReplyDeleteYou, Crystal Mary, have discovered a GREAT truth! God's Word is the place to go when feeling despondent. No wonder David said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against the!" And in another place, "The entrance of thy word giveth light". I heard something today which gave me a boost so I'll pass it along... "No. I'm not a servant of God. I'm His child." Have to think on that some.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this wonderful post with us. I struggle with self confidence at times, so reading this is a blessing.
ReplyDeleteGod bless,
Ken
Dear Mary, you are precious in His eyes. And I too. This is an incredible truth. A truth opens the way to amazing discoveries of God's love for us. Even when we have not loved Him and disrespect ourselves, He loves us with a love full of compassion. Let our eyes on Jesus in order to keep our self-esteem remains balanced.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this courageous blog
Hi, Mary: I love this post, and wrote a long response to it, only to be told I couldn't post it. Let's see if this works. If it does, I'll try to remember my post... :-)
ReplyDeleteThat worked. What I posted before was I recognized the truth of all you've stated herfe because I've lived it. I wrote a song many years ago that reminded jme of some of the things you said. This is the verse that came to mind.
ReplyDeleteWe all live by patterns we don't understand
That drive us as surely as a clock drives the hands
Patterns we learned so long ago
So hard to change, or even to know
I sturggled with a lack of confidence for much of my life. It wasn't so much that I gained self-confidence, I gained God-confidence. When I feel inadequate, I turn to God. He's more than adequate to any task I am facing, and I'm fine as long as I don't try to handle it alone.
One of my favorite hymns has the line:
"For the battle is not yours, but mine, said the Lord." Praise the Lord that I know that now.
My blog was down for over a year, but everything seems to be working again. It's nice to be able to post on your again.
I, too, use to lack confidence in other's opinions of me. God's love made all that irrelevant. Although I still battle those feelings, the love of God in my life has been so overpowering and steadfast, that I truly now know what love is. His love has given me strength to overcome that which I was afraid of. To not be afraid to love others and to express my feelings. He is truly an awesome God!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. I too suffered with lack of self confidence due to bullying in childhood. All I can say is that it was a struggle but God does write straight on crooked lines.
ReplyDeleteBlessings and prayers,
Ann
OH!! MY SWEET DEAR FRIEND, CRYSTAL!!
ReplyDeleteYOUR WORDS OF WISDOM HAVE BROUGHT ME
INTO TEARS. THEY ARE SO TRUE, DARLING.
I HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT
IN MY INSPIRATIONAL SITE TOO.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR SPIRITUAL
INSPIRATIONS WITH THE WORLD!!
I HAVE FELT MY SELF-ESTEEM DOWN
TO THE DITCH MANY TIMES.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
WITH YOUR COMMENTS IN MY POSTS, DEAR FRIEND!!
GOD IS OUR REFUGE, OUR ROCK OF SALVATION.
PRAISE THE LORD!!
BLESSINGS,
POET STARRY DAWN.
As I reflect on this challenge in my own life, I recalled a particular situation in which I learned to do this.
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