Because of the way I live my life, I’m a stay at home mom, work at home mom, and a few other hats I wear, I get stereo-typed up and down, sideways and backways, front to back, and everything in between.
I Am Not Who Others Say I Am
Some people look at my life and say, “Wow, she’s got it all together. She’s successful. She’s amazing.” Yet others say how dumb I am for providing for my kids online. How I need to get a REAL job and stop messing around.
But, I have learned something.
I am not who others say I am. I am who GOD says I am.
God says I’m a mess. He says I DON’T have everything all together. That I sin. That I don’t measure up to His standards and am in desperate need of a Savior, which I’m so thankful beyond words I have. He says that I CAN be a stay at home mom, work at home mom, etc. because He provides for me every single day.
Everyone is going to have something to say about you. How much does it matter to you?
Charles Cooley says: “I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am.”
This highlights that if you let others’ opinions of you matter, you start living like what they say is true!
My absolute favorite cartoon in the whole entire world is the Wemmicks series by Max Lucado. It’s the one called “You Are Special.” If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s so inspirational!
Every day, the people in the town would give the wooden wemmick a gray dot sticker, signifying his “loserness.” One day, he meets a girl who has no stickers. He is greatly intrigued and asks her why.
She tells him she goes to see Eli, the woodcutter, every day and that he should go see Eli if he wants to know the answer to his question.
He goes to see Eli (symbolizing Christ).
Still to this day, Eli’s words ring in my head loud and clear. “What they say doesn’t matter; what they say about you doesn’t matter. It only matters what I think, and I think you’re great. The stickers only stick if you let them.” What a motivational quote if ever I heard one!
The message is that it doesn’t matter what others think. You stand before God. It’s His opinion of you that matters.
I was always the person worrying and caring so much about what other people thought of me before seeing that cartoon. And though I don’t claim perfection in the least bit, it shaped me into the person I am today.
I am not who others say I am. I am who GOD says I am!
Like me or hate me, I am God’s creation. Everything I know, everything I am, everything I ever will be, is because of His grace and His mercy and His love.
I am God’s child. That’s who I am.
