"Don’t Base Your Self-Worth on a Bad Experience."

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2013-10-08) from his book, Sometimes You Win--Sometimes You Learn:Life's Greatest Lessons Are Gained from Our Losses (p. 166). Center Street. Kindle Edition.

What if Jesus would have done that? There was a time when He went back home and the people who saw Him while growing up rejected Him. That would hurt wouldn’t it? But He accepted what had happened and used it as a teach moment for His Disciples and He went on to the next town.

What about you? Was there a bad experience when you were young that has defined who you are? Was there something that a parent said or a teacher said that you use as a basis for a bad self-worth? Yes those have an impact but they don’t have to define who you are. Maybe it was a marriage that went sour or a job where you were fired but they don’t have to define who you are.

Now the first thing is to accept the fact that you aren’t perfect. You are human and you will make mistakes, you will have bad experiences. That is life. But also those other people are not perfect and they make mistakes. Accept both of those realities and then move ahead.

Also John says, “You are not your performance. And you don’t have to be defined by your worst moments. So don’t base your self-image on those things. Instead, try to understand and accept your value as a human being. If you fail, don’t ever tell yourself, ‘I am a failure.’ Instead, keep things in perspective and say, ‘I may have missed that one, but I’m still okay. I can still be a winner!’”

Remember, God created you and He doesn’t make mistakes. Your worth comes from the fact that He loves you and believes in you so much to the point He sent His Son to earth to show you that fact. John 3:16 & 17 (LB) says, “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that anyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.”

God wants to take bad experiences and turn them into good. Let Him change who you think you are.

What are you basing your self-worth?

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