Would You Settle For Less Than God’s Best?
I met a woman I’ll call Regina at an event where I was teaching women how to know they are worthy of great love and why they should never settle for less than God’s very best for them.
Regina told me she’d come out of a life of drugs, alcohol and abuse. For a long time she didn’t love herself – couldn’t love herself.
You know the voices. Too late. Too much baggage. Too much damage.
As a result, she tried to find love from men who took advantage of her. When that didn’t work, she covered the pain of rejection and abuse with drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse made her more vulnerable to being used by men which made her feel worse, so she used more drugs and the cycle perpetuated itself.
Finally, she got sober, found Jesus and cleaned her life up. But without anyone to teach her or disciple her, her desire to be good led her to settle into a compliant obedience instead of a becoming a fervent follower of Jesus.
She wasn’t using harmful substances anymore, she was following the rules, but she still didn’t experience that deep connection and love from Jesus.
She was so grateful to be safe and saved that she stopped short of all that Jesus died to give her. It happens to a lot of us. We are slip into complacency and call it contentment. We stop short of the really good life Jesus has for us bc we don’t believe it’s really for us.
Or we don’t want to press in for it.
Or we say ehhh, this is good enough. I’m grateful for what I have.
We all need someone in our life to teach us, remind us, lead us into the wonderful life of a follower of Jesus.
At the conference, Regina learned about God’s best for her. That she is formed in the image of God. That she is blessed. That she is loved and accepted and worthy of God’s favor. She discovered that God’s opinion of her is the only one that matters and he says she is all that and a bag of chips plus a brownie. That’s my translation of Ps. 139:14 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. The Bible is full of reminders that you are you are the apple of God’s eye. (Ps. 17:8) You are a masterpiece. (Eph. 2:10) You are a pearl of great price. (Matt. 13)
Like Regina, we all need to be established in God’s love for us so we don’t settle for less than God has for us. So we don’t accept counterfeit love. So we can trust and follow Jesus and not settle for anything less than his best for us.
Who is in your life to remind you not to settle for less than God’s best?
I could be that voice in your head. I’m offering a free workshop series beginning Jan. 10, 2019. Tune into my Facebook speaker page at 7pm EST. Be there with bells on.
Prayer: Father, show me who I am to you. Remind me that you made me and don’t make junk. Surround me with healthy friends and give me the courage to release toxic people and habits that slow me down. In Jesus Name amen.