The Pursuit of Potential: Lie # 5

"You are not good enough. You are just like your grandmother and your aunt."

Today's lie is very similar to the one I addressed on May 11th. The woman that wrote this statement, must not only be feeling unworthy or inferior in whatever context this person told her this, but she is also being told that she is going to turn out exactly like someone else. And it appears based on this statement, that would not be a good thing.

Today's truth is that only God knows how we will turn out. He is holding the reigns of our life, if we allow Him to, and just because we share someones DNA, does not mean that we will turn out like them, make the same choices as them, or share the same future.

Unfortunately, statistics do show that patterns of behavior can continue within families for many generations.

For example, in many cases, children of alcoholic parents grow up to be alcoholics themselves - but not always.

Children of abusive parents, can grow up to be abusers of their own children - but not always.

Mothers who experienced teen pregnancies, may have their own child get pregnant as a teen - but not always.

People who are mistreated, may go on to mistreat others - but not always.

Children of parents who love the Lord, may grow up to the love the Lord as well - but not always.

Children who are raised with strong morals and values, may continue on the straight and narrow path through adolescence - but not always.

A person may be trapped in a cycle of sinful lifestyle habits, and someone may predict that they will never change, and sometimes that turns out to be true - but not always.

No one is in control of our lives, or our futures, except us and God. How sad that people inflict these types of hurtful words, without giving heed to the fact that those words can cause permanent emotional damage to the one whose future they are trying to predict. Hurtful words can hold someone in a prison of unworthiness, just as strongly as a jailcell can stifle a prisoners ability to move forward.

Only God holds the future, and Jeremiah 29:11 reassures us that He has a beautiful plan and purpose and future for all of us - regardless of anyone else might want us to believe.

At no point in the Bible, did God say that He had a plan and a purpose for us, unless someone on earth disagreed or did not see our potential.

The philosopher Solomon once said, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

This takes us back to that age old philosophical point of view, that what we think about ourselves, and knowing that God sees our worth, is all that matters.

Other people can have their opinions of us, but what really matters, is what we think of us.

If our opinion of ourselves is based on anything besides waht God's Word says about us, as His children, then we are in a battlefield of the mind and need God's help to see and discover the potential He sees in us.

I want to challenge you to answer a couple questions today. Give them some thought, and dont be too quick to answer. Ask God to help you see and remember clearly what He has done, and also believe in what He can do, in your life.

Question 1: Am I doing anything today that at one time, I thought it was impossible?

Question 2: Is there anything I am not doing today, because I think it is impossible, based on my opinion of myself or other people's opinions?

I encourage you to give those some questions some thought over the next few days.... you might be surprised at the potential you have already shown, and get excited as you realize that your own negative thoughts, sometimes rooted in the negativity of others, are all that may be keeping you from pursuing even greater potential, and the destiny that God prepared for you.

God's love does not insure a perfect life, free from mess ups - but it does insure a bright and hopeful future, our own future, based on His plan, and nobody elses - ALWAYS.

Isaiah 46:10 Only I can tell you the future before it even happens.Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.


Extra note: A couple years ago I wrote a blog post called The D Word. If you have time, click here to hop over and read it, and be more encouraged about owning your own thoughts, staying positive, and not allowing all those d-words to take precedence in your heart.

Pray for today: Lord, sometimes it seems that I each time I look in the mirror, I can only see the criticism that I have heard from other people. I wonder if they are right. I begin to believe that their words, and predictions for my future, must be true. But Lord I know that my future is bright, if I put it in Your hands. Lord, I believe with all my heart that despite what my current circumstance will be, despite the experiences that I have gone through, despite what other people think about me, despite my current patterns of sin.... that You are bigger. You are stronger. You hold the future. I commit today to rely on You for truth, and ask for your forgiveness for succumbing to those who want to steal, kill and destroy my joy and my hope. Today I put my hope in You alone, and it is Your Words that I choose to believe. In Jesus name, Amen.