It’s a Choice

We've talked about how the wisdom and strength we gather on our life's journey is only appreciating our value as we grow and move closer to God.

But what about depreciation?

It's not like we are a car that loses value the second you drive it off the overpriced car lot.

In God's loving eyes, we remain worthy and precious.

Even so, our choices have impact and consequences.

I think about the choices I made in my youth. Some good ones, some not so great. Some, umm, yeah, those ones were pretty awful.

Too often, I ignored that little voice in my head that warned me not to do the very thing I did.

But I didn't listen to that wisdom.  

I was more in tune with what others thought of me and my desire to fit in and be part of the cool crowd.

Little did I know that the cool kids were, in fact, not so cool.

With each poor choice, I gave myself away a little at a time.

With each poor decision, I lowered myself further and further into the pit and could almost feel myself losing value and respect for myself.

It took a lot of hard work and a lot of God to pull me back up.

As the years passed and I learned things the hard way (still do, obvi.), I began to regain my value and come back to myself.

I learned about unconditional love and how God never gives up on me.

I learned that He would do anything to bring me back to Him - I was that valuable.

I learned to respect myself and say yes only when I meant it.  

I started building boundaries to protect myself and teach others how to treat me.

In God's eyes, my value didn't increase or decrease depending on my choices.

But in my eyes, I was so proud of myself.

I could look in the mirror, like who I saw, and know that I was caring for me - God's sweet little child - worthy of love and happiness.

And that hard-earned wisdom is incredibly valuable.

As we age, the world tells us that we are losing our relevancy and that our power is diminishing along with the pigment in our hair.

What a bunch of nonsense.

We are stronger and wiser than ever, and our power and value keep increasing as we make better choices.

Each good yes and emphatic no is a battle won that builds our muscles and our character.

I try to remember this wisdom when faced with a choice and hear that little voice within trying to tell me something.

Is this choice going to help or hurt me?

Am I saying yes to please someone else or because I think I should, even though I don't want to?

Your life only appreciates in value with every stop along your journey. Even bad choices teach us something.

But if you have any plans to trade yourself in or sell yourself short, let me just stop you right now.

Treat yourself with extra care and make sure everyone else does, too.

Nothing but the best for you, my precious and worthy friend!

1 Peter 1: 18-19

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect

Deuteronomy 30: 16

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

Ephesians 4: 14-15

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.