Know Your Worth

Discovering my worth was probably the most difficult process I HAD to go through. I always thought I knew my worth because I knew what I wanted, had a set of morals and things I would and would not stand for all planned out...I thought I had it in the bag. But being in a relationship for 6 years showed me that I did not know my worth and I had to start from scratch to even begin to understand what it COULD be, let alone what it is, in its entirety.

I was young when me and my now friend, (yup, we actually ended up being friends) got into a relationship when I was 16 up until 22 and although I wouldn't recommend anyone being in a long term relationship at 16 and prolonging it until 22, we did actually have a solid friendship foundation before entering into dating.

What this relationship showed me was that even though I may have had these things in my mind of what I wanted and what I would stand for, I didn't practice it, I compromised a lot and ultimately got hurt in different situations throughout us dating. The problem was I was weak in following through with what I knew was right for the sake of being loved and in a relationship. From the outside looking in this could be seen as being; weak, naive and young.

Men AND women should know their worth in Christ, I would even say it's essential. Not having an idea of the worth that God has placed in you will cause you to go through situations you don't have to, have friendships and relationships that can be toxic and not walking away from situations that is not in God's will for you to be in. Basically a field day for the enemy in your life.

In Psalm 139:14

- I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Ever wonder what it means to be FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made? To understand that God intricately took the time to put you together, that you're born original with a purpose that through Christ advances His kingdom on Earth. That's both scary and amazing. David (author of this Psalm) also says "I know that full well". He FULLY knows the worth God placed on Him and praises Him for it. I remember God would put certain people in different periods of my life to constantly remind me to seek Him to find my worth, it was a persistent, He cared about it and put more of an effort to spark that desire in me more than I did. Sometimes I would even ignore those prompts because I just "knew" I had it all together, but my understanding was so far from that.

Your worth is found in Christ. Period. It's not what people say you are, its not even who you say you are, none of that will give you an accurate description as God telling you who you are.  His Truth is final. God is your creator He's the One who made you and the One who knows how you should be, how you should be treated, and how you should treat yourself.

*SEEK GOD AND YOU'LL FIND YOU*

There are times that all of us feel discouraged and that due to our past mistakes we may feel there is no way God can see us in a good way or value us, But His Word tell us in:

Jeremiah 1:5

- Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.   

He knew every mistake you were going to make before it was a thought, before you were born, before you entered this Earth . His love isn't conditional and the worth He placed on you before the beginning of time is the same worth you have now, it hasn't wavered or decreased and He will still use you in a amazing way to show His glory

Knowing your worth is a PROCESS! You probably wont wake up tomorrow and have a full understanding of it, but seeking Christ with all of you heart, soul, mind, and strength will reveal it in a real way. I sometimes use diamonds as an analogy, its hidden in places you have to dig for, people spend their lives searching for diamonds and their hard earned money buying it because their seen as great worth. Some even risk their lives to find the most precious ones,but God says that we're worth far above that, He set us aside just for Him.

I'm urging you to seek God to find your worth, to know exactly who you are and meant to be, there's not a day that you'll regret entering His rest and knowing full well that no matter what negative assumption that may be placed on you, you know exactly how precious you are

Love Always,
Gaelle Marelise. D

No doesn't mean YES

I was having a conversation with one of my my childhood friends, he's a guy and of course the subject of women came up. He's desiring to honor women in a new way, to honor women in the way that God desires a man to honor a woman and not just in a relationship, but every woman he comes in contact with. Very admirable goal to set especially because our generation (Some of us 90's babies) seems to be more or less focused on getting the BADDEST, dopest, girl that'll come with them. 

But something he said during the conversation completely caught my attention, forcing me to make him stop right there and elaborate. He said " these females make it hard for a man to keep this goal because when you tell them no they think its a yes" . Ladies: WHY do we do this?? I cant lie and say I haven't been there, I've heard God say no in a situation, or wait or stop and ignored His guidance and went ahead and turned all that into MY "yes". 

Our "yes" when its God's "No" or "Wait" can quickly turn into our regret, our guilt, our hurt. God honors Obedience, He talks about His love for obedience more times than I can count in the Bible, enough for me to start to look at the reasons why God is so adamant about Obedience. I know that the obvious answer is He knows whats best for us and there is a certain way to live when you're a child of God which is all very true and should be enough of a reason to be obedient, but I wanted more. To be honest I had the desire to know more but does that mean I went and looked for the reasons why?? NOPE!! I half stepped it. There's so many questions that I have/had that are clearly answered in God's Word. Wanna know how i found one of my favorite verses on why i should be obedient?? Well.......

I WAS DISOBEDIENT IN SITUATIONS AND GOT HURT...a lot! During all this hurt I didn't want to turn away from God and "handle it myself" by being introverted, and acting like I was "ok" and nothing is bothering me,  like I normally would, I wanted a deeper relationship with Him and I can sense that He was calling me to have a deeper connection with Him too. So I thought, I'll look up some Psalms for encouragement , I Turn to Psalm 1:1-3 and what do i find? 

-Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. But whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on His law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do prospers. 

This passage tells us that being obedient brings about blessings, prosperity and fruit in every season of our lives (yes their IS fruit in every season of your life even if you feel like nothing is happening, there is something to be gained)

Who doesn't want to be blessed, or prosper or get their fruit in every season of their lives and not miss out on what God has for them?? I don't think anyone would volunteer for the opposite of that. So where does that leave us? It leaves us with a CHOICE on obedience or "doing it my way".

In the case of women, we have a lot of power that we don't know we have, (some of us do and abuse it). *Seducing a man into loving you is a lie*. When it's a "No" that is not a green light into figuring out a way into making his mind change or for the circumstance to be different  Not only does it put you in the position of being hurt, it puts him in a position to fall into temptation and ultimately sin. There is a man for every women....the PERFECT man just for you but you have to realize and accept that not everyone who comes your way is the one and not every "potential" is your job to fix into making him the one (I'll save that for another blog). 

There is a desperation, and insecurity that comes with forcing a situation into a "yes". If it's forced or prematurely started, its not right and is a sign that you're not ready. You should be completely satisfied in God, and when I say completely, I'm not talking about Him just satisfying you, because you have all your bills paid and you and Him are "cool", I'm talkin about He satisfies you in such a deep way that you're not desperate for love or intimacy in other people.

Ladies: Jesus can, is fully capable and WILL be the perfect man you're looking for, He's your Yes and even after and during courting, dating, marriage, kids, grand kids and the whole bunch, He'll always be the right fit for you, the perfect Yes, and while He's being your perfect yes He'll be at work making YOU into the perfect fit for the man He has just for you! 

Sincerly,
Gaelle . M. D