Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (13 page)

We must get comfortable with the thought that we are loved unconditionally and in right standing with God—not because of what we have or haven’t done, but because of what Jesus did for us. Our experiences in the world and with people have told us we cannot be accepted apart from “performing” well in life and that our performances determine how much acceptance we receive. We have been deceived into believing that what we
do
is more important than
who
we are. This leaves us constantly working to prove to ourselves and others that we have value by what we do.

As long as we think God’s love is conditional, we will keep trying to earn it by attempting to prove that we are worth loving. When we make mistakes, then we feel we are no longer valuable and therefore do not deserve love. We suffer the guilt, shame, and condemnation of believing we are not lovable and should be rejected. We keep trying harder and harder until sometimes we are exhausted mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. We try to keep up a good front, but inside we are weary and often very afraid.

Once we believe God’s love is based on Who He is and what Jesus has done, and not on what we do, the struggle is over. Now we can cancel our “performance” and serve God because we know that He does love us and we do not need to “get” Him to love us. We already know we have His love and that under no condition will He ever stop loving us. We no longer have to live in fear of being rejected by Him because of our mistakes. When we do something wrong, all we need to do is repent and receive God’s forgiveness and refuse the guilt that comes with sin, but is no longer applicable when sin is forgiven and removed.

I used to think almost constantly,
What is wrong with me?
I don’t think that way now. I still do things that are wrong, but I have learned the difference between my “who” and my “do.” I urge you today to understand that you are not your performance; your “who” and your “do” are separate. God loves you because of your “who”! He loves you because you are His child.

Is God ever displeased with us? Yes, He is displeased when we sin (this is our “do,” not our “who”) and He loves us enough to correct us and continue working with us to bring us into better and more godly behavior (see Hebrews 12:10). We are destined by God to be molded into the image of Jesus Christ (see Romans 8:29), and I am grateful that He has sent His Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and to work God’s holiness in and through us. This is a work of God’s grace and it takes place little by little as we study God’s Word (see 2 Corinthians 3:18).

There are certainly times when God is displeased with our behavior, but He always loves us. Don’t let anything separate you from the love of God because the knowledge that He loves you enables you to be more than a conqueror in life.

An important verse to understand as we learn to believe we are loved and in right standing with God is 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”

Knowing we are loved and accepted even in our imperfection is such a relief! Serving God from desire rather than obligation is incredibly liberating and brings great peace and joy to our lives. The Bible says that we love Him because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19). Being assured of God’s unconditional love gives us confidence and boldness.

Our confidence should not be in anything or anyone but Jesus—not in education, outward privilege, positions we hold, people we know, how we look, or our gifts and talents. Everything in this world is shaky at best and we should not place our confidence in it. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8). We can count on Him to always be faithful and do what He says He will do—and He says He will
always
love us. He says we are righteous in His sight and we need to make a decision to simply believe it.

We become what we believe we are; therefore, as we become convinced that we are right with God, our behavior will improve. We will do more things right and with less effort. As we focus on our relationship with God rather than our performance, we relax and what God has done in our spirit when we were born again is gradually worked out in our souls and finally seen through our daily life.

No matter what other people may have told you that you are not, God delights in telling you in His Word who you are in Him—loved, valuable, precious, talented, gifted, capable, powerful, wise, and redeemed. I encourage you to take a moment and repeat those nine things out loud. Say, “I am loved, valuable, precious, talented, gifted, capable, powerful, wise, and redeemed.” He has a good plan for you! Get excited about your life. You are created in God’s image and you are amazing! You may still be working on your “do,” (that’s part of being human) but your “who” is awesome!

Think about It

Do you believe God loves you unconditionally?

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center of it. On one side of the line, write “Who” and on the other side, write “Do.” Begin to list different aspects of who you are according to God’s word under “Who,” and under “Do” you can list things you do right and things you do wrong. This will help you separate your “who” and your “do.” Now cross out the “do” section because it has nothing to do with God’s love for you anyway. No matter how many right things you have listed, you can never do enough to deserve God’s love, and no matter how many wrong things you have listed on your sheet of paper, they cannot prevent God from loving you forever.

God Is Not Angry with You

You may not feel like you’re amazing or awesome, but God says that you are. Psalm 139 says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Studying how the human body functions reveals that we are truly an amazing creation. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, something happens to you on the inside. Paul writes of it this way: “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). You may not notice any difference when you look in the mirror; your behavior may not change overnight; and your struggles may not suddenly disappear, but when you are “in Christ” a gradual and patient work of transformation is under way in your life. God sees the end of things from beginning, and He sees you complete in Him. He sees you, through Jesus Christ, as new and completely righteous.

Also, when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you become part of the family of God. You are a child of God.

I think again about my children. They always have right standing with me, even though they don’t always do everything right. I still go through times when I am displeased with their behavior in various areas, just as I am displeased with my own. But, my children are always in the family; they never cease being my children. I don’t like all their choices; I don’t like everything they do, but I love them and I don’t withhold my love because they make mistakes. I still help them if they need help.

God loves us even more than we love our children. He does not reject us when we make mistakes. He knows our hearts. He knows we are on a journey and that we need time to renew our minds. We have a High Priest (Jesus) Who understands our weaknesses and infirmities because He was tempted just as we are and yet He never sinned (see Hebrews 4:15). I love the fact that Jesus understands me! He also understands you, so why not relax and be yourself, know that you are loved unconditionally, and do your best each day? Feeling guilty about every mistake that you make and comparing yourself with others only impedes your progress; it doesn’t help it. Admit your faults, mistakes, and sins; ask God to forgive you and to help you change. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else. God has created you unique and wants you to be all you can be. God will never help you be someone else so give yourself a big hug right now and rejoice in who you are!

Think about It

Do you have a good relationship with yourself?

Stop right now and meditate on Power Thought #2: “God loves me unconditionally!” Roll that thought over and over in your mind and speak it, placing an emphasis on the word
unconditionally
!

Your Account Is in Balance

Second Corinthians 5:18 gives us important insight into the way God sees us: “But all things are from God,
Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself]
and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]” (emphasis mine). What does it mean to be reconciled to God? It means “your account is in balance.” You don’t owe anything! I once saw a bumper sticker that said, “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.” I immediately realized that was the mentality I lived with for years. I felt that I owed God something for all the wrong I had done and I tried every day to do good works to make up for my mistakes. I wanted to be blessed by Him, but felt I needed to earn His blessings. I finally learned that we cannot pay for His gifts, otherwise they are not gifts at all. God has received us into favor, which means He does good things for us even when we don’t deserve them. He is merciful and kind to the just and the unjust. He loves us, looks favorably on us, and wants to bless us. He is not angry and frustrated with us, nor does He seek to punish us for every mistake we make.

God sees the heart of man and His dealings with us are based on the kind of heart we have. I don’t do everything right but I do love God very much. I am very sorry for my sins and it grieves me when I know that I have disappointed Him. I want His will in my life. I am sure that if you are reading this book your heart attitude is the same as mine. Perhaps like me, you have been tormented for years by feelings of guilt and fear, but knowing that God loves you unconditionally releases you from those negative emotions and allows you to enjoy yourself while you are changing. In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul emphasizes again the reconciliation and favor God extends to us and encourages us to believe these things: “So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.” Paul is actually begging the believers of his day to take hold of what God is offering and I also urge you to do the same. Don’t wait another moment to believe that God accepts you, views you as being in right standing with Him, and loves you unconditionally.

Think about It

Do you really believe you are reconciled to God, that He is not angry with you, and that He is completely satisfied and pleased with who you are?

Take It Personally

The truth that God loves us unconditionally and gives us right standing with Himself is so amazing that I find it difficult to find the proper words to express the depth of the beauty of being made right with God. To release the power of this truth into your life, begin to meditate (think) on this truth and speak it aloud. Say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am a new creature in Christ, old things have passed away and all things are made new. I am precious in God’s sight and I have value. I am God’s child, the apple of His eye and He watches over me constantly.” Say, “God loves me unconditionally” many times each day. This will help renew your mind to the truth of God’s Word.

Go to bed at night and lie there thinking over and over,
God loves me unconditionally and I am made right with Him through faith in Jesus
. When you awake in the morning, lie in bed a few minutes and thank God because He loves you and will be with you all day, in everything you do.

Meditating on God’s Word and confessing it is a central theme in God’s economy (His way of doing things). Add some power to your life by believing what the Bible says about you. You are made right with God; you’re precious, valuable, and loved unconditionally.

Think about It

How do you feel when you think about the fact that you are special and precious to God?

Power Pack

“For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”

2 Corinthians 5:21

“Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and because I love you, I will give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life.”

Isaiah 43:4

“Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.”

Ephesians 1:4

POWER THOUGHT

3

I will not live in fear.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”