Heather’s post originally appeared on the {in}courage website. We wanted to share it again in it’s entirety here…we also want to say a big THANK YOU to {in}courage for allowing us to have a small part of such an incredible ministry!
They stood in line.Vulnerable. Exposed. Out there for all the world to see…or at least all of Times Square. One by one they walked up the stairs. And took that step. Onto the scale. Except, instead of the usual “number of shame”popping up to reveal to them their worth in pounds, words of encouragement displayed instead. Words like: Resolve. Pride. Courage. Confidence.
This was a challenge issued by a large corporation. A challenge to not see yourself as a number on a scale but as a strong, confident woman who can achieve her goals, and on the surface there’s nothing wrong with that….
On the surface.
But.
There is even a better scale to stand upon. This scale won’t always tell you what you want to hear. It wasn’t created to boost your self-esteem. In fact, it often tears down walls of pride and confidence to reveal whom we really are inside.
Stepping on this scale you will see words like: Meekness. Sacrifice. Humility. Longsuffering. Gentleness. Self-Control. Kindness.
The words displayed on this scale can be hard words to swallow, but this scale speaks the greatest truths into our lives. Healing words. God breathed words, not man-made words. This scale is The Word!
How many of us remember singing this simple truth as a child in Sunday School?
“The B-I-B-L-E! Yes that’s the book for me! I STAND upon THE WORD of GOD…the B-I-B-L-E!”
That is what He is asking us to do daily. To stand upon His Word. To let His Word reveal to us what we need to know about ourselves. The self that hides way down deep, the self that is weighed down by sin and pain. Let God be the measurer of your worth. For He does not measure our worth in numbers (thank goodness!) or even in our ability to “love ourselves better” but, in our ability to “love ourselves less.”
The world (and sadly often even the church) has done a great job in selling us on: being confident in who we are, having pride in our accomplishments, having courage to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for our rights! But the Bible calls us to die to ourselves, die to our pride, to love the Lord with fear and trembling. This stands in direct opposition to the world’s measurement of our worth..the scale on which we too often choose to stand.
Do you find yourself weighing your worth by the world’s scale? I challenge you to stand, instead, upon the scale of God’s Holy Word! To find the weight of your worth in the words HE speaks into your life!
I challenge you to, “Stand upon the word of God…” and see what the Lord reveals to you. So that someday, you will hear words that carry more weight than anything the world has to offer… “Well done good and faithful (daughter)…well done.”
You can read more devotionals written just for women at
Thank you for joining me for Simply Sundays…At The Picket Fence,
Linking this post to:
Imparting Grace: Grace Imparted
Thank you for that word of encouragement today!
What a way to start my day Thank You, have a good Sunday
Pattie
What a wonderful message here today. The truth is that anyone that has ever struggled with a weight issue will SOOOO get this post-because that is sometimes all we see is the number on the scale and the larger the number gets the more it diminishes us. Thank you-beautiful post! xo Diana
I really needed to hear this today, I have had a tendency to measure myself by the number of followers I have on my blog… how silly is that? Thank you for the reminder that we are so much more than numbers in Gods eyes and that we should all be more like Him and not only see ourselves, but other as He does.
This is exactly why I don’t own a scale!!
Haha, great post!
Coley at
http://www.whatyoumakeit-coley.blogspot.com
Thanks for sharing this with me.
What sweet words of encouragement! Very well put ~ all women need this reminder!
I follow the in courage tweets and find them so inspirational. Thanks for sharing this post. I hadn’t read it before.
Best wishes,
Natasha.
What a great message. It leaves me so inspired.
Thanks Heather! A great reminder of God’s love for us and of our worth to Him.
Love you,
Mom
Oh, the ways we weigh our worth! May we all learn from your example, Heather. So often we get things upside down and backwards, particularly in the ways we see ourselves! I’m so grateful for the grace God extends to us. Thank you for sharing this message!
I so agree…, to feel worthy just for being (a child of God or the Universe) is a concept not demonstrated by the world. One lesson in A Course in Miracles is, “Beyond this world there is a world I want.” Love that.
Thank you so much for sharing this. I think we often get so many mixed signals regarding this and it is so important to turn our antennae’s to the right signal! 🙂
https://twominutesofgrace.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/the-untouchables/
My thoughts on the world’s value system seem to go along the lines of yours.