Each of us has flaws, but we must learn to focus on our strengths. So, shhh! Don’t tell anyone and learn to shut down that bad voice in your own mind.
You can’t control what other people say about you, but you can control your own words. So many times we’re our own worst labeler, and we trap ourselves by saying things like:
- “I don’t like myself.” The trap: If you don’t like yourself, you begin to think other people must not like you either.
- “I can’t do anything right” The trap: If you think you do everything wrong, you lose confidence in yourself.
- “I’m not a beautiful person.” The trap: If you think you’re unattractive to other people, you begin to act like it and believe it and create false illusions of what is beautiful.
Such negative words and thinking will push you down into a spiral of darkness. The more negative things you say about yourself, the more you draw attention to yourself and your weaknesses. Before long, what you say becomes true and others begin to see you as weak, which you live up to—or down.
Each of us has flaws, but we must learn to focus on our strengths. So, shhh! Don’t tell anyone and learn to shut down that bad voice in your own mind.
What weaknesses, inabilities, and insecurities of yours do you talk about—to yourself or others?
If you can’t speak anything positive over your own life, then speak what the Bible says about you. Did you know it speaks of you? It does! Look at this. The Bible says, “Let the weak say I am strong.”
That means: Don’t say what you feel and see on your own. Instead, say what God says about you:
“I am God’s child and I am blessed.”
“I am gifted, talented, and smart.”
“My beauty comes from the inside—from the hidden person of the heart.”
“God loves me and values me. He has accepted me and I’m going to accept myself.”
You encourage or discourage yourself by what you say. You can raise or lower your self-esteem by your own words. So listen to what you are saying about yourself.
Excerpt permission granted by Lakewood Church
Lisa Osteen Comes is an Associate Pastor at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas under the leadership of her brother, Pastor Joel Osteen. In her role, she brings over 25 years of preaching and ministry experience to the congregation and is involved in many aspects of the church's leadership.
Lisa is a notable miracle of our day, having been healed of a crippling disease as a baby. Injured at birth, Lisa developed a condition similar to cerebral palsy which doctors said would cripple her and cause her early death. But as her parents prayed for her, God miraculously healed Lisa before her first birthday.
In 1990, while serving at Lakewood Church, again Lisa's life was spared when she opened a package containing a pipe bomb that exploded in her lap, riddling her office with nails and shrapnel. God miraculously protected her and she escaped with minor injuries.
Through all of her challenges and experiences, Lisa has become known as a respected ministry leader and Bible teacher. Lisa's passion for God's Word and love for people radiate in her practical, yet insightful messages. Lisa is a graduate of Oral Roberts University. She and her husband, Kevin, work together at Lakewood Church and they have three children.