In my last blog post I wrote about a friend who ended his Facebook status with the words “sorry for being me.” In Part 1 of this series I spoke about how God’s favor can change our lives for the better. In Part 2, I want to talk about being yourself, loving yourself, and valuing yourself unapologetically.
In life sometimes we may feel that we are someone inadequate or less than. We may even feel that we should apologize for who we are or that we were ever born. God makes no mistakes. We’re all here for a reason. I am a big proponent of apologizing without hesitation for the things that we’ve done or said that may have offended others but we should never apologize for being who we are. The good, the bad, or the ugly. If there’s something you don’t like about yourself by all means change it. Start now. Do whatever you can to turn that aspect of yourself around, but don’t ever apologize for who you are. The devil wants you to dislike yourself. The devil wants to steal your power. When you walk around with a “sorry for being me” attitude you’ve relinquished your God given gifts and power. You might as well have handed them over to the devil. To be sorry for being yourself suggest that there’s nothing good inside you. That’s not true. Despite all the bad decisions, wrong turns, and setbacks there’s still more good, more love, more life inside of you than bad. As Christians, we have to be able to pick up our swords and fight off the enemy. Even if your not religious or spiritual, self-hate can still be your enemy. Fight off the enemy, take steps to improve who you are and always love yourself.
Some people may have a “sorry for being me” attitude not because of choices they’ve made but because of things others have told them. We’re all broken people in some capacity or another. Broken people break people. You don’t have to believe the lies of the enemy. You don’t have to break because someone throws you up against the wall. No matter what has been said to you, done to you, or taken from you there’s still more good, more love and more life inside of you. Never be sorry for being yourself. Never give anyone or anything the power to take your self-esteem and self-worth away from you. Not you parents, not your boss, not your spouse, not your own choices, not the devil and not even yourself.
I have an audio CD from Brian Tracy in my car. In it he suggests saying to yourself over and over again, “I like myself. I like myself. I like myself.” I’ll pass along that same advice to you my friend. If you find yourself having an “I’m sorry for being me” moment just tell yourself, “I like myself. I like myself. I like myself.” Get specific about why you like yourself. You are pretty awesome you know? Solicit help from those you love and trust if you need to. Know who you are and no one (not even yourself) can take that away from you.