Not Enough. Mistake. Too loud. Too quiet. Rebellious. Jezebel. Arrogant. Ugly. Selfish. Too poor. Not Fast Enough. Too Fast. Liar. Not Pretty Enough. Not Thin Enough. Too Long-winded. Too Complicated. Naive. Stupid. Too Opinionated. Too Outspoken. Who does she think she is?

Sounds like a weird way to start a post about hope, huh?

Many of these are names I’ve been called by others. Some of them are names I’ve called myself. They started out quietly in my mind as I heard them when I was young either from the mouth of my mother calling me a mistake she didn’t want to repeat or through being made to feel inadequate by someone else’s words or behavior. Not growing up with a firm foundation in Christ or even the beginnings of one made it very easy for these names to stick in my mind. They piled up over the years, again either from someone else or from my own self repeating what the enemy had played in the background of my mind for years. No amount of personal behavior modification or attempts at perfection or people pleasing seemed to make a difference, yet I would try all the harder to make sure people knew I could be worthy of love if they’d just give me the chance to prove it. I fell further and further into hopelessness, knowing that realistically some people in life just wouldn’t like me but begging to feel as though anyone did. Begging to feel as though I was worthy of someone coming to my defense, while also being terrified of the possibility that all these labels had been correctly assigned to me because what if I was just that bad?

But God…

I know it sounds like the typical cliche Christian answer, but it’s just the truth: God is our one true source of hope! The fact of the matter is that people are people, people have always been people, and people do peopley things that sometimes hurt! And although no one is perfect and we should keep our own hearts in check and aligned with the Word of God, the reality is that hurting people hurt others. It’s the “misery loves company” principle. And the kicker is that most don’t even realize they’re doing hurtful things; they just don’t want to or don’t know how to process their own feelings, grief, anger, etc and it festers like a wound and spills out onto the people in their lives.

All those things others said about me? All those things I said about myself? Yes, they hurt, but they pale in comparison to the names God calls me! He calls me (and you) blessed and highly favored; He says we’re made in His image; and if you’re saved, He calls us son/daughter, redeemed, forgiven, set free, treasured!

And we can trust what God calls us because He is who He is! In John 8:58, “Jesus says, ‘I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!’” In Jeremiah 1:5, God is saying to Jeremiah, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb…” If God/Jesus/Holy Spirit have always been (and we believe this to be true both scientifically and spiritually), and if God knows us before He forms us and then proceeds to form us, then we have to realize that He planned on us being here! He had all of eternity past to change His mind about us, about me, about you, and He didn’t! He knows the number of hairs on your head, and He knows how many came out in the brush this morning. He knows your favorite color and your favorite food, and He created both of these things knowing at the time of creation that you’d enjoy them!

God only speaks truth and the enemy only speaks twisted truth and lies. What will you believe today? Will you believe what the enemy says? Or will you believe the One Who calls you beloved and Who cannot lie? Because let’s face it, we’re nothing without Him anyways. Let them talk; it may be hurtful, but if it isn’t truthful, then it isn’t truthful. Cling to Who God is because it is Who He is that makes us who we are! Our identity is found when we begin to understand Christ’s identity!

No matter what you’ve called yourself, or what others have called you, God calls you His creation and He wants to adopt you into His family to call you child. If you want to learn more about this, check out the page called “Plan of Salvation” and email us with any questions you may have. Take heart and take hope, friend! And the next time someone asks who you think you are, ask them how much time they have to hear about the God of the universe because that’s your Father.

Be blessed!
-Robin