Who God says you are

A tech person once suggested that to reduce email Spam, I should clean out my spam folder regularly. When I tried it, the advice held true.

I’ve now realized that the same technique can be helpful—even necessary—for my inner critic, the old messages that play over and over in my mind, telling me I’m not good enough, attractive enough, smart enough, strong enough. Sometimes the critical voice conveying the message sounds a lot like my own. At other times, it sounds more like the voice of someone whose criticism has stood out in my life for any number of reasons.

Such critical messages have a way of draining the life from us. They can keep us from using our gifts, shining our God-given light. I would argue that anytime a thought of “I’m not good enough,” comes, this is not of God. Because of God, we are enough. And every bit as important as hitting “stop” and “delete” is replacing those critical messages with affirming ones, especially those given to us in Holy Scripture. Take time every day to remember who God says you are.

This message is an excerpt from “Messages from God” by Kari van Wakeren in the March 2021 issue of Gather. Today we remember Catherine Winkworth, who died in 1878; and John Mason Neale, who died in 1866; hymn translators.

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