What she says... or what God says.

  At least once in our lives, we've been put down, looked down upon or mocked by someone else. I'm sure that at least once you've been picked on, laughed at, and called horrible things. Some people face that day to day. Sometimes the weight of this causes you to cry, and worse feel horrible about yourself.

  I don't know exactly how it happened for you, but this is how it happened to me. When I was younger, in elementary school, I was the laughing stock of a group of people. They picked on me and said horrible things to me. I felt alone because no one else was on my side. It was me against everyone else. Day to day, as I went to school, I would feel this pain of being ridiculed and mocked. I prayed that it would stop but it never did. You would wonder, would God really allow this to happen to me? Why won't He make them stop?

   I thought I needed them to change and stop tormenting me, but what I really needed to do was change my perspective. The pain and the tormenting finally stopped when I changed, not when they changed. They still laughed at me, mocked me and ridiculed me but it was as if I had a shield on that deflected every word meant to destroy me. That shield was the Word of God and His truth.

   Genesis 1:27 says that God made man in His own image. God is perfect and pure. He is holy and righteous. He made us in His image. So as they continued to call me ugly, I continued to remember that I was made in the image of the most high God. And when they said that I wasn't worth anything, I remembered Jeremiah 29:11, which tells us that God has good plans for us: plans of good and not evil to give us an expected end. When they said that I should die, I remembered John 3:16, which tells us how God gave His Son to die, so that we might have life. God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die, to give me life. How could I ever believe that I should die, when the King of kings has sacrificed Himself so that I could live?

   We all have a purpose on this earth. There is a reason why you're alive. There's a reason why you've been ridiculed: it's to make you stronger. I became stronger through what I faced because I learned to trust in God and in His word. I learned to trust the voice of God over the voice of others. The voice of God matters most in your life. When someone says that "you're not good enough," listen to that still small voice saying "my grace is sufficient for you... my strength is made perfect in weakness (2 cor 12:9)" The grace of God can carry you through anything that you will ever go through. His grace will never leave you. His grace is enough for you. You may be fighting the biggest battle in your life but His grace is sufficient. He will keep you. You don't have to keep yourself, just let Him hold your hand and take you to where you need to be. You may feel like you're fighting a battle alone against a multitude but just open your eyes and look behind you. God and a multitude of angels stand behind you and are ready to defend you. God is holding you in the palm of His hand. Don't be afraid to trust Him. He won't let you go.

    Jesus hung on the cross for you. His arms were wide open with love. He bled for you. That's how much He loves you. You can be sure that He'll never leave you. He showed his love for you by hanging on the cross. Jesus is all that you need. He can mend your broken heart and He can make you whole. He can take away your pain and your fears.

    Don't believe the lies that the devil shoot at you. Let the word of God define you, and no one else. If God said it, it matters more than whether or not "he/she" said it. God matters more. He cares for you, they don't care for you. They want to hurt you. God wants to heal you. Let Him heal you. Listen to the Voice of Truth, and live.