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.
Discover more from Renee Swope
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Thank you for this post today. It’s not a surprise to me how God’s timing works. For a long time I’ve been praying, waiting, yearning for something “more” to come into my life. I didn’t know if that would be in the form of a different job, children (my husband and I have been dealing with infertility and miscarriages), volunteering, or *dread!!* learning to be content in my circumstances. Lately I’ve been reading about personalities and spiritual gifts, hoping to learn more about my natural passions and leanings. I even met with my counselor to talk over these things just two days ago. I was thankful for this reminder to stop comparing, as I am often jealous of the women in my life who seem to “have it all…” children, jobs they love, etc. I read an inspiring quote this morning on Pinterest right after I read this devotional. It said this: “Sometimes God doesn’t give you what you think you want. Not because you don’t deserve it, but because you deserve more.” I’m excited to fill out this assessment and continue on in this journey. To God be the glory!
For the first time in my life I have become comfortable in my own skin. I have always struggled with body image, but have come to learn I am made just the way God wanted me to be. This comes at a perfect time as I recently found out Internet struggles my husband has been having . In the past it would’ve crushed me into a million pieces, – you can’t possibly compete with those women. But I have an unexplainable peace somehow. And it’s got to be Christ in me- on my own I would be a wreck. Yes, I am hurt, but not destroyed. Don’t like it, but living thru it and stronger because of it.
This was just what I needed today, Renee. I attended She Speaks last year and knew God wanted me to write. Fear of comparison kept me from pursuing it. But He kept reminding to just be me. The me He created and crafted. So…I did it and am growing closer to Him through the experience. Thanks for being an encourager to God’s girls!
Reading this blog today is a great reminder to me that the Lord has wired me in a certain way with different talents and abilities that I can celebrate and use for His glory. So many times I compare myself with people who are very different from me because I am envious of their giftings. My prayer is that God will continue to guide and direct me in the way He wants me to live for Him, and that I wouldn’t compare myself to others.
Renee,
Thank you for sending me today’s devotional. which was so reassuring and inspiring. I have been comparing myself to others and not measuring. But even worse, for the last few years, I’ve spent a good deal of time comparing my old self (before marriage and divorce) to my new self and coming up short. Your post, and the beautiful video and images of Jesus embracing a child, remind me that I am loved just as I am and still have unique gifts to offer. I am on a wait list for your book, The Confident Heart, at my local library and can’t wait to get started reading it and completing the exercises you speak of in your blog. Thank you for sharing your gifts of connection and communication and inspiring with his Word!
Mary
I’m writing this without having read any of the other comments above but I’ll do that later. Today’s devotion rings loud in my head. My problem is I’m 57 years old and still feel so alone. I’m married, have 3 grown sons (none married), in a loving and caring church (30 miles away at my husband’s request) and worked 13 yrs (teacher) at a job I’m ready to quit. I know I have many talents but wonder if I still know who I am.
So I ‘m spending the summer listening, watching and waiting to see what I’m suppose to learn about me and my place. I have several girlfriends and we stay in touch dispute the miles between out homes. I’ve prayed for years for a special girl friend but none yet. And then I remember Jesus is my best friend.
I’ve recommended the Proverbs 31 devotion by email to several friends.
Thank you for your post. The quote “We’ve got to stop comparing our insides with others’ outsides” will be going up as my Facebook status in just a minute here! I think my husband & I are both really bad about doing this & I KNOW it has trickled down to a couple of my 4 kids. We’ve both read some on personality traits & spiritual gifts, but it would be good to get another perspective, at this different point in our lives, when we’re both feeling really down on ourselves. Hoping to win the book! Thanks so much for the opportunity to possibly win it!
This week I’ve had time alone….an unusual change in my normal/chaotic life as a mother of three young boys ages, 4, 5, and 8. I’m a full-time teacher, full-time grad student, wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc. In my business I often forget that “I am made for so much more than all of this.” I am guilty of running from place to place, event to event, and striving to always do more. Thanks for the awesome reminder that God loves me…no matter what, even when I am just exactly who He created me to be without striving for more!
This is an amazing devotion. It follows right along the same lines as the study I am doing right now called “Girl Perfect” by Jennifer Strickland. These are amazing truths and I am so excited to claim them for myself and share them with my daughter.
Hi Renee, Thank you for your devotional today on the Comparison Trap. When I saw that in my Inbox, I knew that God had sent that for me to read. Comparison is something I struggle with and have been praying about. I base my self worth on what I have in comparison to others, if I am fatter or skinner than that girl, and so on. I recently had some new neighbors move in and within a month they have done some fabulous updates to their home! I have been using my comparion skills in thinking, well, “I have lived in my house for almost 2 years and they have done more to their home than me.” Sounds trivial as I write it, but it’s a comparison tactic I use to value my self worth. Well, “I don’t have as much or my home is not as nice as theirs.” Sounds silly talking about houses, but I do this is many aspects of my life including my appearance. It stings a bit, but is so true, that with the Comparison Trap we are comparing our insides with what someone has on the outside. With God’s continued grace, I am working on stopping this vicious cycle.
I have been praying so I would know my spiritual gift!!! Cant wait to take the assessment!!! All you gals at P31 keep me encouraged and focused!! Thanks you!!!
I have a hard time with FB, I look at all my friends that I went to HS and college with and I see their families and how they look so perfect and how they are doing things in their lives by serving the Lord in “fun things”o like speaking at womens conferences, singing and making gospel albums or traveling all over the country and being the perfect everything. I look at my life and think wow I wish I could be like that or my life be like that, but you know the Lord is showing me everyday that I am who I am and you know what I am happy with the way the Lord put me in the body of Christ. God has blessed me with many attributes that He can use to minister in the way He wants to use me not the way I want to be used, in letting God take charge of my life I am happier and receiving the blessings that He has been waiting to give me along. Thank you for your devotion and encouraging words………………………..
Tracy– FB is the perfect example of viewing someone’s “outside”… Regardless of the final image and comments we post there, FB provides a one-dimensional view of someone’s life. Not many people post pics of them caught in a struggle, family crises, or their fears, doubts, or insecurities. Yet, we all have them. When you, like me, find yourself daydreaming about the “wonderful things everyone seems to be doing on Facebook”, take a step back and remember just how blessed you are, how unique God made you, and take comfort in your greatness! I have promised myself to limit my FB browsing this summer, and to get about the business of living abundantly! God bless you!
I love Psalm 139 – if we could really get a hold of what God is saying to us in this passage, we would realize that God does indeed love us just the way we are, because He made us! I am 50 years old and consider myself a solid Christian woman and often remind the ladies in my church that they are God’s masterpiece, and yet I still at times compare myself! Thanks Renee for this reminder!
Sometimes you don’t see your natural abilities and talents as gifts because they come naturally and come so easily to you. I know for me, this has been a difficult thing to grab ahold of but the Lord keeps seeping it into my soul through things like this devotion. Thank you so much, Renee, for your obedience. And I thank God for His faithfulness to continue to put these lessons in front of me to seep down into the depths of my soul until I take full hold of it and let Him do His perfect work…
I appreciated today’s devotion. I find that I still have to be careful to not fall into the comparison trap even as a wife & mom. I want to be a godly example to my children & at peace with myself, God & others so I must pray constantly & be on alert that I don’t start comparing myself to other moms & my children & husband to others-which is easy to do but is very wrong!
Thankful for P31 & the thought provoking devotions.
~Blessings~
I am slowly learning that it’s ok to be me, and so what if I don’t fit into the mold that others think I should. It has taken me many years to realize that this world isn’t my home, and it’s perfectly normal that I don’t feel at home here. Besides, I’d rather be a real me – and be good at that – than to be a fake someone else and always fail miserably at that! Now, I just need to learn to discern what gifts God has given me and how He intended for me to use them.
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Hard lessons, but great freedom!!! I pray the Spirit leads you in discovering His giftings in you!!! Be blessed!!!
I am 44 soon to be 45 years old and I still can’t honestly say that I know what my gifts are. I have always been searching, listening and reading but there is still not that settled peace in my spirit. I want to fulfill my purpose but what is it. I am really struggling I hope chapter 8 in your book can really bring some clarity.
Dear Yvette,
I am nearing 50 and still struggle with what gifts God has given me. Sometimes just when I think I know what they are, the circumstances of my life change and then I’m left wondering again. But it has made me realize that God gives us different strengths and different gifts at different points in our life. We may have the gift of supporting others (which might be a behind-the-scenes gift) but then suddenly we are urged to use the gift of speaking (which we never knew we had) and are in front of others. We are still using the one gift but it now seems amplified. I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes we don’t feel we have gifts but when we look closer at our lives, we can see that we use gifts every day, we just don’t always see them. Encouraging others, being a support for others, being willing to do what ever God asks us to do…those are gifts, too.
Yvette,
I too will be 45 very soon. I remember someone said to me what is it that you love to do and would do it for free? When I read that question again in Chapter 8 it made me see how I need to rethink that question again and start finding what other gifts and talents I have that God has given me to use.That one question started me on a crusade to find out. I still dont know everything I would like to do but I have found out a lot in the process. Dont beat yourself up just listen to your spirit and find things that you really like to do and that are strengths for you and see where God uses those things to lead you in your process..( I also volunteered at different organizations and from that I found something I love doing. I volunteered at a battered women’s shelter and became part of their speakers beaurea. That gave me the opportunity to use my gift to speak all over Atlanta to, mayors, governors, on the radio, I have done many television interviews, I even ended up on the Montel show in New York. Each time I open my mouth to share my story and to help others I feel God’s presesence. I was scared at first but I joined speaking organizations (like Toastmasters) to fine tune my gift and the rest has been God using me and putting me in places to speak. I was once very fearful and had zero confidence. Nobody would know when I speak because its God speaking through me. I speak to thousands now. I encourage you dont give up. You are special and you do have purpose. Remember God’s plans for you are for good…Jeremiah 29:11. August Rose
Our church recently went through a split. In some ways we are starting all over as many have left, even the pastor.
I have studied spiritual gifts in the past, but just never really seemed to figure out where I fit. Recently God has been prodding me to fill my life again with activities I used to thrive on~Art, Music, Words. I feel like I need permission to do these things with so many responsibilities that take up my time. But I have slowly begun and now I know these things bring me to life.
Our situation at church, I believe, is an opportunity for God to reveal my place of service to the body. Your post and the video was a wonderful affirmation to me of God’s perfect plan for my life. He knew me from the beginning and created me for a purpose. I am not worthless and unnecessary as that vocie so often whispers into my heart. The truth is that I am His.
Thank you.
I’m getting closer to 40 than 30, and as a single, childless, woman, it is soooo hard to avoid falling into the lie that I’ll never measure up. When I was younger, it was easy to wear the masks that everyone wanted to see, and I had quite the selection! But now, I want people to know the real me. I’m breaking the masks, slowly, painfully, but each day is freer and brighter as God continues to shape and mold me.
MarySue, I’m single,childless women too and I totally understanding putting the mask on because that is what I was taught when i was younger. Toughen up, stop being a cry baby when people called me names since I had a speech impariment and was called retarded, dummy, and other names. I wanted a family by now but I’m 36 and have nothing but I know God has a plan and have to wait. Waiting is hard but I know He has the best gift ever. 🙂
I really never thought about “You are precious and honored in my sight …. and I love you.” Is 43:4, As a new christian I am learning so much for what God has in store for me. I am learning that I am precious and honored so I do need to quit comparing myself to others and see myself as God sees me.