“You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!” Psalm 139:13-14
Do you struggle with self worth? Do you tell yourself you aren’t good enough? May be you tell yourself you aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, strong enough, or worthy enough?
Many of us suffer from the “not good enough” syndrome. In most cases, we don’t see our worth and value but everyone around us does.
Were you ever caught off guard when someone told you that you had a beautiful smile and were beautiful? May be someone complimented you on a project you completed that you didn’t think was done well? May be in your weakness, someone saw your strength and endurance prevail and you were awestruck by their comment on how strong you are?
Sadly, we are the hardest on ourselves. We are often our own worst enemy. We find it hard to love ourselves, feel deserving of love, and worthy. Yet our hearts desire love. We were made for love, made to receive and to give love. Why is it so difficult to love ourselves? Why is it difficult to see ourselves as God sees us, “wonderfully made”?
I have suffered greatly with self worth and acceptance. Growing up, I had low self esteem. I would rather be hidden, blended into the background, than draw attention to myself. My family often told me I was pretty. I never believed them. I didn’t feel pretty. I didn’t think I was. I just thought they told me that because they were my family. As I became an adult, this low self esteem expanded like a marshmallow in a vacuum chamber. If you haven’t seen a marshmallow in a vacuum chamber, as you pull vacuum on the chamber, the air bubbles trapped in the marshmallow have a higher pressure than the surrounding chamber and the pressure of the air causes the marshmallow to expand and it gets really big. This expansion of low self esteem became very evident in my marriage.
In my marriage, my self worth was the size of a tiny seed. I never felt beautiful, never felt I could do anything right. It wasn’t until after my separation that I began to find myself and my self worth. It was my faith that pointed me in the right direction, the direction to my heart, centered on a God who loves me.
I won’t say that I still don’t go back to the “not good enough” syndrome, because I do. Today, that often hits me when it come to my role as a mother and sometimes even the things I think God is calling me to do. Fear is not good enough’s best friend. Both keep you from being the person God created you to be. Both place you in a cave and fill your mind with lies.
Are you going to let the lies convince you, you aren’t good enough? Are you going to turn off the vacuum chamber and shrink the marshmallow called “not good enough” into a small speck? Are you going to tell yourself, you are “wonderfully made”? And lastly, are you going to thank God for the wonderful work you are?
