Our Give-Away for Today!
After May 10, she'll no longer be taking orders and is offering a 30% discount on all orders 'til then.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chosen Last
“I guess we’ll have to have Cheri on our team...” didn’t do much for my self-confidence.
(Not that I blame them. Who wants someone whose athletic skills include catching a soccor ball with her glasses and breaking her thumb while doing the high jump?)
I got used to not being chosen.
I got used to being unwanted.
Un-Chosen
In junior high, my best friend turned on me overnight.
When a mutual friend asked her if she felt bad about losing our friendship, she declared, “I’m not losing anything. I’m throwing it away, because that’s what you do with trash.”
Shortly after, my boyfriend traded me in for a newer, more attractive model.
I was discarded.
Worthless.
Among the Chosen Few
A place card with my name on it awaited me at every single meal.
How I loved not wandering aimlessly, hoping someone would invite me to sit with them. Not sitting at an empty table, wishing someone would join me.
Finally, I had discovered the secret to belonging: when I worked hard enough, I could sit among the select.
So for years, I earned the right to belong.
I worked my heart out, making sure that I deserved to be chosen.
But then came the back injury. I qualified for the incentive trip, but just barely. And although Hawaii was beautiful, I received no elite invitations, found no place cards bearing my name, had no seats saved for me.
Once again, I didn’t deserve to be chosen.
Once again, I didn’t belong.
Chosen Once and For All
(Can't view image? Click here to download John 15:16)
I don't think God could state this more plainly.
And yet, how do we respond?
We work harder, trying to earn the "right" to belong.
We behave as if commiting our lives to Christ is a qualifying competition, and we must prove worthy of team membership.
In an e-mail this morning, Valarie wrote,“Sometimes I have found myself putting myself down for not doing enough for God.”
Do you see what we’re doing? We’re trying to deserve to be chosen. We’re trying to deserve to become who God says we already are!
Nothing to Prove
You belong.
You are chosen.
Now you choose:
Do you believe Him
when He says
you are chosen?
If so...
...you can quit trying so hard!
...you can quit being so hard on yourself!
...you can quit being so hard on others!
You have nothing to prove.
Try this today: When you start feeling like you’re standing on the sidelines, or like you’ve been trashed, or like you need to work your heart out, say out loud: “It is written, ‘I chose you.’ And I choose to believe what You say!”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Please leave a comment
- responding to today’s blog, and/or
- sharing your Day #1-2 experience of replacing “baditude” with God’s word and gratitude, and/or
- about anything else on your heart!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(Catch up on any "Warm-Up Week" Blog Posts!)
