God’s Better and Best
“One of the most powerful things I can do for someone is call out the better and best of who God made them to be”
Today’s post is a bit longer than normal but I hope you join me and find encouragement and blessing woven through it all. :)
I am hyper aware of my flaws. I know we all have strengths to our weaknesses but there are times all I can see are the weak points in myself.
A long time ago, attempting to mitigate such self-loathing, I tried various routes such as posting inspirational Instagram photos that boosted my attitude for 2.7 seconds or listened to motivational seminars that I hoped would finally reveal the one-and-done fix all formula for life. Or better yet, I immersed myself in mentally motivating exercises that inflated my perception of self-worth and gave my heart the illusion of value but in truth I remained as fragile as a balloon in a room of exposed nails only now I was starry eye blind to that fact making me twice as vulnerable than when I began. (Whew take a breath after those marathon sentences! :P)
As a former people pleaser with a sensitive failure meter (God has faithfully unplugged and consequently been systematically dismantling said mental contraption) I have learned a few things about value and the powerful transformation that comes when I (and others) choose to call out God’s better and best in ourselves and others.
It is not enough for me to post platitude or alter attitudes. Those things are fluff with no substance because they are spoken from a human-to-human level instead of a heaven to human level.
You see, God, as THE Creator of all things, is the only one who has the sole (or should I say soul?) right to speak value over me or you. He created us and His words are the only ones guaranteed to prosper and not return void. Therefore, He is the ONLY one who gets to define us.
And wow…if we could grasp the magnitude of all the wondrous things God thinks and says over us, our minds really would be blown to atoms!! Even now with what little perspective I have of the whole picture, it has left me undone and overwhelmed with awe of how loved, adored, treasured, beautiful and unique God created you and I and others to be.
Now I understand (it took me 10 years but better late than never, right?) that there is no shame nor violation in speaking the better and best of who HE declares me to be over the mess ups and mix ups of my life. On the contrary, there is no more perfect way to live out what I am saying in this post than to speak His truth over every circumstance and choice.
Trouble only happens when I (or anyone) tries to speak worth or value based off personal standards instead of God’s. When I do that I am breaking the Creator clause and trespassing on God’s private testimony property. I don’t get that right and neither do you. Besides, whey would I want a cheap imitation of value when I am freely being offered a genuine appraisal far above rubies; priceless in fact by God Himself???
Especially since God’s testimony of truth and life is the only one the accuser (Satan) can’t defeat no matter how many times he appeals the verdict. Jesus, The Son of God, wrote with His perfect shed blood an immutable testimony in the courtroom of heaven on behalf of the whole world that God accepted and will not retract. All who believe are granted a limitless settlement of forgiveness and grace that gives each one of us the opportunity to be the better and best God created us to be.
To be clear, it is certainly okay and necessary for us to make truthful judgments about things that are wrong, but I have never seen change happen because I pointed out every flaw or negative and wrong thing and then left the room with no follow up plan to encourage or pray over those things. When it comes to relationships and people (and life in general) I can’t stop at judgement. I must press forward and call out God’s better things in another and the best of who they are.
There is no time that anybody feels their humanity more than when they are failing. So if I see someone in that state, it is okay to judge the behavior for what it is but I want to encourage myself and you to not remain seeing the person for who they are now but who God made them to be and to call THAT person out in them.
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