How do you respond when you hear that God loves you? For me, the first time I realized that truth it was touching, but now one of two things happen:
• It falls on deaf ears — I’m numb to it, I’ve heard it, but it doesn’t pierce my heart.
• I think to myself, I know God loves everyone, but I’m not sure if I’m in that everyone list.
I hear song lyrics like “Jesus loves all the little children,” and I know it’s true. He loves everyone, regardless of skin color, but I’m not sure if I am on that list.
Hearing about God’s love ignites chatter in my head:
“He can’t mean everyone.”
“Not me because of things I’ve done.”
“Not me, I have failed so often.”
“Not me, I’m not all that.”
“Not me, surely I don’t matter.”
These are my thoughts. Am I alone? Am I the only one with such chatter? I have often thought I was, but recently I’ve come to find that if someone doesn’t have that brain chatter then they’re the odd one.
So that’s the conversation in my head regarding God, but it’s also that type of chatter in other things — relationships, friendships, work, hobbies, church, etc. Again, am I alone?
Whether the chatter is in direct response to God’s love or everyday life, I believe most of us have a battle in the mind. It’s a battle that, when boiled down to its core, is ultimately because we don’t feel we have intrinsic worth — we don’t feel valuable.
The topic is compounded for us believers because we know we are nothing without God — but that doesn’t mean we aren’t valuable. I want to give six Biblical truths you can put in your mental toolbox to combat that negative self-talk:
• He said we’re valuable. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31 NIV).
• He made us. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” (Jer. 1:5). In case we don’t think God forming us uniquely is enough to prove our value, consider the likeness in which we were made.
• He made us in His image. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). I believe it’s also important to note that even though the fall in the Garden separated us from the Father and brought curses upon mankind, we still find that we’re made in God’s likeness after the Garden of Eden in places like Genesis 9 and James 3.
• He died for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Do we really believe the Father would allow His Son to die on our behalf if we were junk?
Because sin has such a tremendous impact on our negative self-talk, I add this passage: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
• He invited us. “He has saved us and called us to a holy life — not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (II Tim. 1:9). We have been invited into the family of God, into salvation and into the unfolding story.
• He dwells in us. “… When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). Just in case the first five truths didn’t convince you, try to argue with your worth — when the Holy Spirit dwells in you.
The chatter is real, but it’s not telling the truth. The Word tells the truth. Burn these truths in your mind and heart and remind yourself that you are valuable to the Lord.
Jake is available for revivals and preaching learn more at standfirmministries.com.
