“There is NO ONE alive who is YOUER than YOU!” So true, isn’t it?
God created each of us as His unique creation, even down to the tiniest details. We weren’t created on an assembly line. Each of us is a masterpiece of the Master Designer.
It may be hard to believe we are personally valuable to God, but we are. Every part about us is important to Him and created for His purpose. Including our voices, those deepest emotions of our inner souls. That one-of-a-kind way we express ourselves. How we feel in our heart of hearts. What are we passionate about? What are our dreams? What do we feel committed to? What makes us cry? What gives us hope? What revives our strength? What depletes us?
Painful experiences we’ve been through can crush our voices and make us feel like it doesn’t matter how we feel or what we think or say. We may become afraid of the consequences of speaking up. Afraid we will be hurt, rejected, or slandered again.
Sometimes I still ignore my inner voice, the true me God has created. She can get buried inside of me until I remember again how precious I am to God, how much He loves me, and how He wants me to be myself. To believe I am special to Him and to recognize the true feelings, gifts, and rights He has given me. To say and do what He has placed in my heart, not to say or do what others want me to or to run and hide in my shell.
Have you ever in your heart felt strongly about something but you kept silent? Have you ever tried to fill the expectations others have for you? Perhaps out of fear, to avoid conflict, or to make them feel better? Have you ever hid behind a smiling mask because you’re afraid if you expose your brokenness, you won’t be accepted? Then you’re not alone.
It can be hard not to beat ourselves up for not speaking up when it’s important. For not being authentic like God calls us to be.
It’s a comfort to know that God’s love is unfailing. He cares about us, even when we hide the unique person He created us to be. He is love Himself and will never hold our failures against us. He longs to heal all the hurts inside that hold us back from expressing the true voice He has planted within us. That voice that was created in His image and needs to come out to His glory. May He give us the grace and strength to do so!
“Who I am does not change who God is;
yet my knowing who I am, in God, changes me.
It changes me from a false identity to a true one,
from a life of slavery to one of freedom.”
Jennifer Camp
“To know what you prefer
instead of humbly saying Amen to what
the world tells you you ought to prefer,
is to have kept your soul alive.”
Robert Louis Stevenson
“Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance,
you feel a loss of energy, loss of power,
a sense of spiritual deadness.”
Shakti Gawain
Remind Me Who I Am
by Jason Gray
And I’m running far from home
Remind me who I am
When I can’t receive Your love
Afraid I’ll never be enough
Remind me who I am
Can You help me believe it
Who I am to you, who I am to You, whoa
Tell me, lest I forget
Who I am to you, that I belong to You
To You…”
Freed to Fly 