Worth

         Tonight I had a beautiful girl tell me she felt worthless sometimes. Worthless. It shocked me, and it stung. She is one of the prettiest, sweetest, funniest young ladies I know. She is an absolute joy to be around and on the rare occasion she isn't around when the rest of her friends are hanging out, it feels like something is missing. And it absolutely broke my heart that she doesn't know how beautiful she is, how fun she is..... how valuable she is. 

Friends, we have to tell our children, tell their friends, tell all the young women we know that they are VALUABLE. That they have worth not only in our eyes, but in the eyes of the Heavenly Father. 

Psalm 139: 14-16

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

Each and every Daughter of the King was created in His perfect image, created for a PURPOSE. We must be intentional in modeling encouragement, in modeling self-worth and confidence. Being an encourager is not always easy. It is so very easy to be someone who criticizes instead of encourages. Someone who puts down instead of lifting up. I myself am guilty of it. I remember in high school always being so critical of my friends. Instead of making them feel good about themselves, I was quick to point out their flaws..... and y'all, you can't undo those words you just put in your friend's mind about how they aren't good enough. Even now, I struggle with being critical of my family.

Proverbs 12:18

 

The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
    but the tongue of the wise brings healing

Your words can be destructive, so choose them carefully. Once they fly out of your mouth, there is just no getting them back. It is so easy to voice only the things you don't like or that you want to change. As a youth minister and song leader, my husband gets a lot of  "I don't like this"...," Why don't you do that"...., "you sang that song wrong," and very little encouraging words or affirmation for the things that people do like. And do you know what I've seen it do? I've seen it wear him down. Make him feel like he's not good enough. When in reality, he is wonderful with kids, he is fun, he is an excellent singer and teacher...... and he LOVES the kids in our youth group. 

Our words have just as much power to encourage and lift up and motivate and create a better person. In order for our mouths to speak grace, we must know it in our hearts. We have to spend time in the word and time praying for God to make our hearts like his. 

Luke 6:45

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. 

Lets use the influence of our words to identify the lies our youth believe, identify them as from the enemy, and we replace them with TRUTH. The Truth of the Word.