Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Embrace Your Uniqueness




A few days ago, I spoke with a young lady who struggles with constantly comparing herself to others.  Because she feels that her life isn’t what society tells her it should be at her age, she looks at the life of her peers who appear to have it all together and are doing well, and it causes her to believe that her life doesn’t hold a candle next to theirs.  Based on what she sees in other women around her, and in mainstream media, she doesn’t think she’s pretty, smart, accomplished, fashionable, or gifted enough to say that there’s anything special about her life.

My heart ached as I listened to my acquaintance criticize herself. I wanted to reach through the phone and shake her until all of those self-demeaning thoughts flew out of her head, so I could bag them up and send them to the trash pile.  Instead, I extended my heart, hugged her compassionately with words from the Lord, and encouraged her by sharing that I knew exactly how she felt.

I once walked in her shoes, feeling inadequate and inferior.  I compared myself to every woman I believed had a better life than mine, and in my eyes, everything about me enormously paled in comparison to those around me.

Read the rest here.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Sis LaKeisha! This word has been a blessing to me today. I've been struggling with comparing myself to others since I started seeing the man I'm currently dating. The thing is he's also my pastor and there is a lot of pressure to fit into a certain mold even before marriage. Bottom line is our relationship has drawn a lot of criticism for both of us and my son. I actually said things to my pastor like I really can't help you with your ministry....I don't sing...I dont preach....and I'm sorta shy! He's such a sweet man because he says he only needs me to be myself. Furtheremore, the Word of God says I can do ALL things through Christ.....so I don't need to be like anybody else! I only need to be who God created me to be....Praise God!

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