There are many things that should not.
We place so much value in the definitions we were never meant to use...
... And forget the definition we have been given.
Last week, a few girls from my Bible study and I went out to the campus pond. I handed them rocks and those awesome oil sharpies that write on anything.
I asked them to write the lies they believe about themselves on the rocks.
The names they call themselves they would would never say out loud.
The words they would never admit they believed.
We sat.
We wrote.
We were silent.
We looked at our rocks.
We talked about the weight of our rocks.
We discussed the burden of carrying them with us.
We discussed how hard it is to grasp God's truth when we hold onto the lies.
Then I picked up a rock.
"This one is for all of us" I said.
I held up the small rock with purple letters written on it.
"The Past" it silently screamed.
I began to speak.
"The past does not define us." I stated as I threw it into the pond.
The atmosphere seemed to fill with hope.
One by one, we shared the words we had written on the rocks.
One by one, we threw the rocks into the pond.
Despite us writing in silence, many of the same words had been written.
"Not enough"
"Alone"
"Awkward"
"Ugly"
"Last choice"
"Forgotten"
And on and on the lies went, each of us repeating the lies of the last.
On and on the lies were spoken and thrown into the pond.
And with each lie, encouragement and truth was spoken.
When all the rocks and the lies laid at the bottom of the pond, we pulled out Bibles and replaced the lies with truth.
Isaiah 43
Song of Solomon 6:3
Psalm 45:10-15
Isaiah 44:1-4, 21-23
Jeremiah 31:3-6
Psalm 139
Psalm 124
Psalm 98
Isaiah 42:5-9
We ended our time by taking small wooden crosses and writing the names Christ calls us on them.
Names like, "Beautiful. Loved. Forgiven. Saved."
I write all this not just to share a beautiful experience, but to make a point.
Girls (and guys),
We try to define our worth.
You must have and do to have worth.
You must be pretty.
You must be popular.
You must be perfect.
You must have the perfect social life.
You must have a perfect past.
You must have.
You must be.
You must.
You.
I do it too.
I look at Facebook and compare myself.
I look in the mirror and compare myself.
I look at my friends and compare myself.
I start defining myself.
I believe lies.
I start trying harder.
I try to be more.
I try to have more.
I try to make a definition of myself that I like.
It never works, though.
Does it?
So let's stop.
Let's stop believing false definitions of ourselves.
Let's stop calling ourselves by lies.
We are called to define ourselves by Christ.
He has done and He has been to give us worth.
A worth that is more than being pretty.
Or being popular.
Or perfect.
Or anything.
Christ is our worth.
It's not easy.
I'm pretty terrible at it.
We have worth.
Not in our doing, but in Christ's doing.
Not in our actions, but in our abiding.
Not in our outward situations, but in our inward surrender to Christ.
We have worth because we have Truth.
Can we keep each other accountable?
Can we talk about the lies?
Can we fight for each other?
Can we push each other closer to Christ?
Please?
