Gospel Highlights

There is not, nor will there ever be another person exactly like you. Value that. Respect that.
It sounds simple, but it's not always easy. So many negative influences try to tell us that we aren't good enough. They tell us that we are worth less if we don't have the right shoes, the right handbag, the right car, the right hair.

And unfortunately, sometimes we are the negative influence telling ourselves that junk.

A story I once heard illustrates this point. A rich man loved to take strolls on the beach and he spotted a little girl playing in the sand. He noticed that she had a string of dirty red beads around her neck. On an impulse, he went home and took out a string of priceless pearls that had belonged to his late wife. With her mother's permission, he offered the pearls to the girl. But there was one catch. She had to give up the dirty red beads.

She refused. The more he tried to get her to take the pearls, the tighter she held on to the beads.

How often do we do the same things in our lives? We hold on to an old image of ourselves, old habits, old grudges, anger, resentment, and other negative influences when it is clear they don't serve us anymore.

A former friend of mine fell into this trap. When she was young, her mother used to always tell her that she would never amount to anything. The mother lavished love on her younger sister, but neglected her. She had low self-esteem as a result. She attracted men who used her, couldn't hold jobs for long, was in extreme debt, and was constantly behind on her bills. She was also morbidly obese.

Every time I talked to this former friend, the conversation would revolve around how her mother had treated her. No matter what happened in her life, it was her mother's fault. The lady was then close to 50 years old. No matter what, she would not let go of those dirty red beads.

She didn't realize she was hurting herself far more than her mother ever did.

How much better would her life be if she let go of the old image her mother defined and took hold of a new image that she herself defines? How much better if she forgave her mother and took responsibility for her own life and happiness?

How many of us are putting ourselves down by comparing ourselves to others and wishing we were somehow different than we are? I've got one word to you today: STOP.

Value who you are. Take inventory of your strengths and gifts. Write them down. Whenever you compare yourself negatively to others, mentally say "STOP" and replace it with something positive. Let your own opinion of yourself matter more than others opinions of you...and make it a good one.

Lastly, take care of yourself. Actions speak louder than words. When you eat healthy, exercise, and do good things for your body, your actions say that you value yourself. We know that when you value something, you take care of it.

So take care of you. You are worth it and the rewards are priceless.