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Renee Swope

Encouraging and equipping moms to parent with God's grace and confidence.

You’re One of a Kind

I know you sometimes feel ordinary but you’re not.

You are one of a kind ~ a unique and beautiful blend of all God wants you to be.

You may feel invisible … like you’re just one of millions of others.

But there’s no comparison. God sees you friend.

And when God sees you, He sees someone He loves.

Listen as He whispers…”You are precious and honored in my sight …. and I love you.” Is 43:4

He also sees someone He knows.

“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.” Ps 139:1

Since God knows you, has a purpose for you and loves the way He made you, I’m confident He wants you to feel the same way. Watch, listen and let Him sing these truths over your heart today. {And if you’re reading this in email, click here to watch it online.}

You really are…

Beautiful

Loved

Cherished

Chosen

Treasured

Sacred

You are His!

May God’s sweet affirmations replace all those comparisons. As you identify, understand and embrace who HE created you to be, I’m praying that like the psalmist, you can learn to say with confidence, “Lord, You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps. 139:13-14)

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 Want to find out more about who God created you to be?
Here’s a link to a FREE Spiritual Gifts Assessment  to see what your gifts are!

It’s FREE for everyone!

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Today’s GiveAway:  I’m giving away  5 copies of the personality assessment that I talk about in my book A Confident Heart, In chapter 8, I share an in-depth section about personalities and how our unique traits play a key role in our God-given purpose. Today’s giveaway is called Wired That Way Personality Profile and includes a time-tested profile with definitions, instructions to eliminate confusion, a detailed explanation of your scores, and a handy team-building chart that shows how the different Personalities interact.

Enter to win: Share a little bit about what God is speaking to your heart or showing you today through my P31 devotion, this blog post and/or music video. Can’t want to hear from your heart. Simply click “share your thoughts” below. {And if you’re reading this in email, click here.}

Read my Encouragement for Today devotion The Comparison Trap.

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Comments

  1. The biggest thing God is speaking to me about is valuing my gifts & personality no matter how small or insignificant it seems & not try to be someone else. How freeing!

  2. Thank you for your insight. I, too, grew up never feeling good enough and always trying to be like everyone else. I didn’t know Christ, and alcohol became my ‘liquid courage.’ I am so grateful to say I am almost four years sober and on a spiritual journey to discover God’s purpose for my life. I have read your book, and can identify with so much of it. I am in a couple of Bible studies, just soaking everything up. Thanks to women like you, I have guidance and direction. Thank you.

  3. God’s timing is always perfect! I was meditating on truths to share in a workshop about how other churches can initiate a ministry patterned after one we have done for over a decade. The message of not trying to be someone else or comparing ourselves with orhers applies not only to individuals but also to churches. God calls bodies of believers to unique ministries.

  4. I have struggled for years of comparing myself with other women, not ever measuring up. Now, I’m learning to embrace who God made me to be – abilities, talents, personality and all. I’m still a working progress, but I’m more confident than I have ever been. Thanks!

  5. I am in the midst of reading your “Confident Heart” book and today’s post resonates perfectly with what I am learning there. Yes, I know that only God can fill me, yet I have a hunch I somehow think he will fill me or bless me in the way He is doing so with a friend, neighbor or someone else. So, thanks to how you are helping me think and how He is working in me, I am asking Him to fill me in a way that’s just right for me both inside and out.

  6. What a revelation! Due to my insecurities, I find myself comparing a lot! I KNOW how much God loves me, but i can’t seem to break this vicious cycle. What are MY gifts? I’m not sure. I long to be pleasing to Him. I want to do what I’m called to do. But truthfully I’m not sure what that is. As a 36 year old, that is terrifying! Thank you for this devo, God is asking me to step away from my comfort zone and discover His best for me.

  7. I need the reminder to not compare myself on a daily basis. I also struggle with where God wants to use me vs. where I want to be used. Too often I gravitate towards things that people will notice. While that frustrates me, I find myself filling with pride and unable to say no to jobs that will bring me praise.

  8. Love this song! God spoke to me and said that my circumstances do not define me, he does. “I am more than the lies I have held for so long, they are nothing in the shadow of the cross.” Precisely, the lies are not me but a shadow. What a revelation.

  9. This devotion really spoke to me today. I feel that God is trying to get it through my thick skull that I am OKAY just the way he made me and I don’t have to have the same skills as someone else. He can use me as I am. I am going to take the spiritual gift test and see what mine are and then look for ways in my church, community, and work to use those talents to glorify my Father…..thank you Renee.

  10. Wow! This spoke to me. I definitely have been comparing my insides to others outsides. I am going to keep this infront of me and reread chapter 8. I have such a struggle with feeling unworthy. Thank you for your posts –

  11. Thank you for the reminder that God compares me to no-one else. He sees me and loves me and has a beautiful plan for my life. I need to move over and give Him control thankful that He is not finished with me yet. Pray for my sister TJ to know that God loves and sees her just the way she is!

  12. Thank you for your post today. It has always been so difficult for me to believe I am special in any way. I think I will always need help with this. I pray for help with this and I think God led me to you today. Thank you.

  13. I get caught in the comparison trap on a personal level, but also with my children. Personally, I can relate to what you said and I loved the quote about comparing ‘our insides with others outsides’. My biggest problem at the moment is with comparing how my 19 year old son behaves and lives with how I would love to see him live – I need to accept him as being how God made him and learn to accept the beautiful person he is. Thank you for your encouragement today.

    • This is a challenge as a mom. I so get it. But it’s oh so important. It’s made a big impact on my parenting for me to read books and pray God would give me understanding and appreciation for each of my kids’ uniqueness. Praying for you today!!

  14. Today’s devotional was a tough one for me. I struggle with the comparison trap everyday. Growing up as identical twin was a blessing…an instant best friend from day one, but it was also very difficult. We were constantly compared to each other and often treated as the same person! As an adult it has been very difficult to identify who I truly am and it was only a few weeks ago that I realized how very much this has affected my personal life and my professional one too. I ask God every day to show me and transform me into the woman he created me to be…not the one I have allowed my self to believe I am shaped by the world….thank you for today’s devotional!

    • Praying for you Beth. That must be really hard. But YOU can still be a twins and be an very unique one-of-a-kind individual. I have aunts that are identical twins and they are so much alike yet also very unique and different in their lifestyles, hobbies and family life.

  15. My husband and I were just discussing the differences in our personalities. It so important to see and understand that in others around you. You can’t compare anyone, we are each unique. Celebrate being a beautiful, wonderful Child of God.

    • Love hearing how you and your husband are discussing this too. It made a huge difference in my marriage when we went through the assessment together and started to really appreciate each other’s strengths and give grace for our weaknesses. 🙂

  16. Thank you for using the gift God gave you in such a beautiful way. I have been searching and praying for God to open my heart and eyes to His will. I am nearing my thirties 🙂 and can’t wait for what God has in store for my life!

  17. How can we forget? Why do we allow the lies of the devil to infest our minds? We certainly have a battle and we need to be reminded that we are daughters of a King! We are princesses, we have access to the kingdom of God by our beautiful Jesus! Thank you for your ministry and the beautiful work is doing in us, (women seeking the purpose in our lives)

  18. It is so true that we all are unique. My friend MJ and I just co-directed VBS. We had a lot of.challenges, but wwere able to face those challenges by acting on our own strengths to get through it. The more I pray And read the Bible, the easier it is to see God’s unique plan for each of us and see how he puts the right teams together to get His work done.

    • I love how you and your friend MJ worked together based the your different strengths. Life always works better that way and it so much more fun too. 🙂

  19. Right now, I’m a tired teacher. I see other teachers who seem more naturally gifted at organization than I am. Somehow they get more done in their 45 minutes of conference time than I do. I like reading my students work, but I’m overly sensitive about how a grade on a paper will affect them… and I sometimes have to redo a grading matrix more than once before I can live with it. In short, if my principal isn’t printing out a list of whose students made the best scores and distributing it, I am mentally comparing myself with others for whom teaching seems easier. However, this is my “regroup” season– a time when I let my mind rest and listen more intently to what the Lord wants me to hear from Him. I need His intervention and encouragement more than ever. “I don’t want to talk about You, like You’re not in the room. I want to look right at You/ Want to sing right to You.” Elijah was tired after a big battle, too… and he needed to get some rest, express his heart to God, and hear God’s still small voice that was louder than all the voices internally or externally.

    • Dear Pam (tired teacher),

      I too am a tired teacher of 31 years. After a long year, testing and teaching and everything in between, this is the time to relax, rejuvenate and take time for yourself. I think that that my hardest years were as a beginner teacher but also these last 2 years have been trying and with the new technology and new evaluation systems. Even with all of this and other things, God has never left my side, in triumphs and failures ( and then some ), He has been faithful because I have chosen to listen to Him, to seek him humbly and cry out to Him. God will always provide what you need, be it a friend, family, co-worker, church members etc. I have never given up on my God because He has and never will give up on me.
      God bless you and thank you for being part of the teachers who get tired giving their all for our students.

      • Thank you for your testimony and encouragement, Edna. I read recently ( I think in I Used to Be So Organized) that a mom was having a hard time and feeling frustrated because her baby (first son) was not growing and seemed to cry all the time. No matter how much she fed him, he was always hungry and fussy. A friend had given her a loaf of bread and some jam– and that is what she ate the first week her baby was home as she tried to get him to nurse and have enough. She wrote that she wished someone had told her that she had to eat well– a variety of good foods– for her body to be able to produce the milk that her son needed. She just wasn’t giving her body what it needed to sustain her and him. As I read that, I thought about how the Lord has been telling me that He wants me to take better care of myself by coming to Him intentionally/crying out to Him/eating good spiritual food– as well as eating good physcial food/ getting enough rest and water/ taking time to do something creative/fun, and blessing my body with movement. I am listening. Today Lamentations 3 especially encouraged me. 🙂 Thank you again, Edna. God bless you.

        • I love how you both {Edna and Pam} are encouraging one another. I love what you both shared. And Pam God’s been showing me the same thing about taking care of my “whole” self . It’s so easy to neglect the basics like healthy good, good sleep, exercise and fun. I couldn’t do life with out Jesus and His constant care of me in His quiet but persistent ways. :0)

          Praying this will be a refreshing summer for your heart, mind, body and soul!!!

      • I’m a teacher too, a school librarian. This year, more than any, I found myself working so hard to gain approval…I’m exhausted! I wanted my principal to ” see” my contributions!!! All year, I’ve battled stress and compared myself to others. The result, for me, is burnout and weight gain. This is indeed the time to rest and rejuvenate! I know God has blessed me in my work as well, even my failures. I pray we all learn to “fail forward”, and rely on God’s grace to bring us through. I also pray that He shows us to see ourselves (as women, teachers, sisters) as He does.

  20. How very true—-we compare our insides with the outsides of those around us – then fall flat on our faces. I pray that we learn to see ourselves the way God created us and intended us to be.

    • wow, I have that cd by mercy me that a sister gave me last year with that song on it
      beautiful,)
      last year I was really going through some hard times of not loving me and I always thought of myself ugle ,well not no more I’m beautiful,but i’m noticeing that i’m compare myself with someone that I wish i had her body shape…God is so awsome that i’m learning to love who i’m and how i look right now…..