Proverbs 19:8 To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.


      Please, someone out there, “like me!” Like me on Facebook, Youtube, Soundcloud or on anything, but please – just like me. Are you living your life for the sake of a like? We have to like ourselves and be comfortable in our own skin so we can be happy with who God made us to be. Mark 12:31a Love your neighbor as yourself. 
      I feel sorry for a lot of neighbours if they are being loved as people love themselves. With so many people struggling with personality issues, body image acceptance and low self-confidence in who they are, their neighbours must be neurotic by now if they are being loved in the same way.
      Man’s approval is fine, but God’s approval is paramount for our well-being. God has already accepted us through His son Jesus Christ. All we have to do is accept the sacrifice that God says is perfect; therefore, those who are in Christ are eternally liked so to speak and accepted for who they are. 
      When we accept Jesus as Lord, we now live a life that works toward pleasing our Lord. Then by God’s grace, we begin to mature into a place where we accept ourselves and each other. Man’s ways of acceptance just cannot do what God has done for us through Jesus our Savior. Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
      Many may feel what my sister in the Lord, Jami Rogers says, “I think it’s a pretty good call that I’m in a major testing zone, and someone keeps giving me more tests than I have pencils for!” Are you overwhelmed with man’s standard of passing the grade? The tests, qualifications, and endurance-races that man puts other people through to be accepted and liked is flawed at best and downright impossible to achieve at worst. Trying to pass these tests will result in burnout. Psalm 69:3a I am exhausted from shouting for help; my throat is sore.
      The like-me-meter that man has implemented for worldwide approval is a moving target from day-to-day depending on the whims of so-called aficionados of pop-culture and those with varying political stripes. We cannot get our self-worth from people who have no self-worth themselves. 
      People cannot give away what they do not have! Otherwise, we would be jumping through man-made hoops of impossible reality all day long. If we depend on man’s likes to be at peace within ourselves, then we will be continually in a place of being blackballed because the only color of ball in the ballot box is black. A no-win scenario. Hag. 1:9a You expected much, but then it amounted to little.
      Let us put our life efforts into pleasing God and find ourselves in His book of likes. Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 
      I came into the Lord’s presence this morning wearing my comfortable slippers, bright flannel shirt, and plain pants. I was accepted. I had a heart full of concerns, questions, and praise. I was pacified and strengthened in the Lord’s grace. As the Proverb says, To acquire wisdom is to love yourself. 
      I reckon I could say my day got started with some love and a blessed like. By God’s grace, I am full of thanks for His faithfulness toward me and I know that I am loved, favored, and liked by all mighty God. Wow! I will take that any day. Psalm 92:2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night. More than a like, God loves you. Blessings.
Topical Bible Studies About: Staying Positive

4 Comments

  1. We all have weak spots miss Jami. But thank God our Lord is not weak and He asks us to say, "We are strong in Him." Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.

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  2. This is my weak spot, still thinking I have to have some type of approval "out there", but knowing I don't ! Great perspective once again! Thank you! Also shared on Facebook!

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  3. I enjoyed the read and surprise ending Norm. I also shared it on Facebook. :-)

    Reply

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