A friend of mine introduced me to Tim Ross who has a Podcast, “The Basement With Tim Ross.” I’ve only listened to him a couple of times due to time restraints from running a business and a non profit, but judging from those listens, he goes deep and deals with subjects many don’t want to touch. I admire him because what he does takes guts. My friend Dawn had posted one of his Reels on Facebook. Tim was dealing with COMPARISONS and the dangers of comparing ourselves with others. He touches on those moments we are guilty of devaluing ourselves, which doesn’t serve any of us, and frankly, never will.
(Here’s the Link to Tim’s Reel if you’d like to watch): https://www.facebook.com/share/2af5yPRmqDhjze9n/?mibextid=I6gGtw
See, YOU are UNIQUE! You have a slew of unique giftings that no one else has. Sure, a few do share some of what God has given you, but the fact remains, YOU ARE UNIQUE and the world needs what you have to give! When you bring special gifts to the table with confidence, those around you will be ministered to and touched in a way they haven’t been before.
If we waste time comparing ourselves and seeking to be carbon copies of those we admire, the people in our sphere of influence will miss out. It’s okay to admire others, and certainly it’s healthy to aspire to grow character traits that others have, as long as we aren’t trying to emulate others. But even more powerful, is when we grow a special confidence in who the God of the Universe has created us to be, and let those gifts shine for the world to see, without reservation.
I just love what my friend Dawn had to say after listening to Tim’s Reel: “Well dang! This dude is wrecking my world and God is making me work on things I’ve shoved down for years and don’t want to deal with.”
I think many of us have the same sentiments that Dawn does! It’s painful when God begins to deal with some of our STUFF. And we have a choice in the matter. We can certainly resist and take off RUNNING in break neck speed in the opposite direction, or we can surrender…choosing to trust that He always, and I mean, ALWAYS has our good in mind. Assuredly, we will come out WAAAAAY better than we were before.
My husband and I finally found our church home after visiting 20 or more churches when we moved to Phoenix seven years ago. We visited church after church and none felt like home until we found Without Walls in Mesa, AZ. Our church is HUGE on discipleship, which is an element that is missing in many churches. They seek to build a strong foundation in Christianity with Biblical Teaching. Every few months they offer a series of classes called “Activate” to teach those who attend the basic elements of Christianity.
Just to be honest, when we first heard about the classes, after 36 years of Christianity, I copped a fairly short attitude of “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” Well, the God of the Universe had something to say about that. I heard his still small voice that the Bible talks about, speak into my spirit, “Remain Teachable!” I was immediately brought to…”Well Carole, You Don’t Know it All. You never stop learning…” YIKES! I’m glad he checked me. I needed a swift kick in the behind and a wake up call.
Tim made mention of how when we compare ourselves to others, we devalue ourselves. Geesh…In the 2nd Activate class after watching our Pastor on the video, the leader had us all close our eyes and ask God if there was something the Lord would like to say to us.
Almost immediately, I heard Him say, as clear as a bell, “Stop berating yourself!” To be honest, for the most part, I think of myself as a fairly positive person who keeps an upbeat attitude. I questioned myself with, “WHO ME? Berating myself?” The thing is, I KNEW I’d heard from God, especially when He continued… “When you berate YOURSELF, YOU are also berating ME. STOP BERATING US!”
(Those of you who are familiar with Christianity, know that Christians believe that when we ask Jesus into our hearts, His Spirit indwells us from the very moment we ask and we become (ONE with HIM). Still a tiny bit doubtful that this was something I do, I immediately started catching myself midstream BERATING myself. Not just once or twice, but a whole lot more than what I knew.
So, my point is—I was BUSTED…but in a good way. As we continued to converse on this post on Facebook, I couldn’t help but comment: “Oh my word! God just spoke to me at our activate class at church, and told me to stop berating myself. He then proceeded to tell me that when I berate myself, I also berate Him because we are ONE. His last words were, don’t berate us.” Quite honestly, I was surprised because I feel like I’m a pretty positive person. But when he revealed that to me, I started taking notice, and I caught myself numerous times berating myself. Yikes! Now you know what I’m working on!
I just LOVE Dawn’s authenticity and vulnerability: “Girl, I am on the struggle bus lately and I don’t want to deal with things because I know it’s going to be painful and a lot of tears. I just need to get it over with or it’s going to come out of nowhere and probably be a lot worse.”
I continued: “Dawn—the hard work is so worth it and SO LIBERATING. THIS is what makes our relationships powerful and life giving. It’s not a “religious-lifeless — going through the motions day in day out with no change.” It’s get down and get dirty ! He’s making pearls with that friction! You’ve got this!
So, I said all of that to say this: Could you be devaluing yourself without even realizing it, like I was? May be something worth pondering…and quite possibly, a habit that needs to be broken so you can FLOURISH in your God—given calling!
We’ll never flow in our giftings in a great magnitude, if we are putting ourselves down! And depreciating ourselves and the God of the Universe within us, just doesn’t serve us. Not now. Not ever.
START BUILDING YOURSELF UP!
