Faith – Page 3

God is calling you today!

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, November 4, 2020

When you’re sitting in church, listening to the notices asking for volunteers for the worship team and you feel a little nudge saying, ‘You could do that’. Do you obey and sign up?

When you hear your neighbour has lost their job and you feel a wee tug in your heart saying, ‘Go and help them.’ Do you obey and help?

When you’re sitting with a friend over coffee as she tells you her marriage is struggling, and the Holy Spirit prompts you to pray with her now. Do you obey and offer to pray with her right then?

These little moments are opportunities to follow the call of God and obey. When we are faithful and obey with the little things, God will trust us with the bigger things.

I have heard it said God will call us according to our gifts and talents. God created us all with different gifts, abilities and strengths, and it is good to work within those strengths, within our passions and interests.

But don’t limit God by working only within the things you already know or are good at.

How do you know what other hidden talents or character traits could be developed if you don’t step out and try different things? God knows best what you are capable of and He will equip you for any purpose He calls you for, but you might not have everything you need at the start of the process. Obey in faith, and trust God for provision of all you need as the journey continues.

I’ve also heard people say that if a calling is a struggle or too difficult, then it must not be from God. Some people say your calling should be natural and easy for you. I disagree.

Don’t use this as an excuse to not take on something that seems like an impossible challenge, or to give up. Following God’s call may not be easy, and it might not ‘feel’ natural—especially at the start. Be wary of quitting something and classifying it as not being your calling too soon just because it feels too hard or too unfamiliar. Push through. Then the growth will come.

If you think you have been called by God to do something big, a calling that will have an impact on your life or those around you, consider it seriously. Pray about it, study the Bible, and talk with God. Pray for clarification and confirmation. Talk with people who are involved. Take advice from trusted Christian friends. Seek advice from wise and spiritual leaders around you. Be sure you have a calling from God before you follow. Then obey and trust the journey.

Be prepared to step up and step out of your comfort zone. Be prepared for surprises. God often doesn’t do things the way we expect or would prefer.

The outcome may be surprising, unexpected or even disappointing. But that is our human perspective, not God’s all-knowing eternal perspective.

Our plans can never be as well-planned or as imaginative or as intricate as the plans of God, the Creator of the Universe.

(this blog is an extract from ‘Footfalls – Following God even when it hurts’ by Staci McLean. Purchase the book at www.stacimclean.co.nz)

“When God calls you to something, He is not always calling you to succeed, He’s calling you to obey! The success of the calling is up to Him; the obedience is up to you.”
David Wilkerson

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

This little piggy went to…

By Staci McLean on Tuesday, October 27, 2020

I kicked the door. I did not mean to, but I was rushing around, running late to an appointment and in my haste, I was not paying attention to where I was going. I am clumsy by nature and accidents are a usual accordance for me, so it was not so surprising that I kicked the door as I rushed past.

The only part of my foot that connected to the door was the most vulnerable and smallest part, my wee little toe. If you have had the experience of hurting your little toe in a similar incident, you will understand the agony.

Over the next few days, the toe swelled and turned a blue-black colour and I had trouble walking as putting my foot down was very sore. This very small, not very important part of my body, which I never usually pay any attention to now had my full attention. I could not walk without hurting it. I had trouble wearing shoes. I could not do my normal fitness activities and even sleeping was uncomfortable and difficult.

How can one small part of my body, impact my life so significantly?

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the church to the human body. Even the smallest, seemly unimportant part of the body is absolutely vital and indispensable. If any part of the body is hurt or damaged the whole body suffers.

My little toe was hurt and damaged, but I did not want to remove it or hide it away instead I wanted to be extra gentle and careful and give it extra attention to restore it back to health.

As the church we can at times overlook the hurt, the damaged, the people on the margins, the ones who are hiding in the shadows or do not quite fit in. Instead we are called to bringing them in, care for them, nurture them, taking special care with them, giving them special honour as they are a vital part of the body of Christ. They are important and significant to the health of the church.

We need diversity and variety. We all have different gifts and talents, and we need each other. A church that is made up of just legs or arms would be useless to the world. We need little toes as much as we need the feet to carry them.

In your rushing about do not overlook the little toes, instead protect and take care of the little toes.

‘Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it’

1 Corinthians 12:27

Addiction recovery Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

Under Construction

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, October 21, 2020

I might be a work in progress but every day, I get a little bit wiser, a little bit better, a little bit stronger.

Across the road from our house there are 3 new housing developments. It is noisy and busy on our street, with trucks taking away dirt and contractors working on the sites. It is interesting to me that even though the projects all started the planning stage at a similar time, the progress looks vastly different. One site has the houses built and they are now finishing them off, one is still working on the ground preparation and third has yet to start. So many factors affect the progress of the work because they have different budgets, specifications, planning requirements and challenges. They have the same goal but different strategies to getting there and different time schedules.

This is true for our personal development as well. It is easy to look at your someone you know or a close friend who is on a similar journey to you and judge your own progress against their progress. The problem with comparison is that it does not consider those different strategies, time schedules and variable factors.

Often what we see or what is visible in our life does not reflect the progress we are making inside. So much of the progress we make as we develop our character and learn and lean into God is under the surface. We might spend a long time in the planning and preparation stage and be working hard on ourselves, or a project or a goal and not see any fruit YET. It can take time to see the change.

Sometimes that fruit can come in suddenly and it looks to those around you as it happened overnight. Suddenly you have changed or succeed or achieved something but, that preparation work has been going on for a while.

We are all a ‘Work in progress’. We are an unfinished project that is still being added to or developed. In Philippians 1:6 Paul wrote ‘I am sure that God who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again’. Paul knew that we are a work in progress and that God would keep working on us, in us and through us.

Set your own progress schedule with God leading the way. Focus on your own development, do not compare yourself to others, do not feel like a failure because you are not going quick enough. Gods timing and direction will be perfect. After all, God is the ultimate master builder.

“You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress, simultaneously.”
Sophia Bush

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

Just in case

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, October 14, 2020

On a recent family holiday, I realised I had over packed, once again. I had way too much stuff and way more than we could possibly need. I had clothes for winter and summer conditions and everything in between, good clothes in case we went out, work out clothes in case I went for a run (I didn’t) and spares of everything JUST IN CASE!

It made me realise how much I prepare for ‘just in case’ and the stuff that I have accumulated on my journey through life. It is good to be prepared and sensible but often this translate into our emotional and spiritual lives well. There are so many emotional bags I have collected and keep inside, afraid to let go because of ‘just in case’. How much of this stuff is preventing my spiritual growth and my reliance on God?

When Jesus sent the disciples out to share the good news in Matthew 10, he sent them out in groups of two but without anything and they were instructed not to take any provisions with them. They were sent out and told to rely on the goodness of strangers and on Gods provision. I bet they had wanted to take a few spare pairs of shoes or some food or in least a drink bottle, just in case. But had they done that, they would not have experienced God’s miracles of provision or learnt valuable lessons in trust.

Setting aside money or savings for a rainy day or taking a raincoat with you on a cloudy day is not being unfaithful or untrusting but in fact quite sensible. It is not these things in themselves that are wrong, but when they become our full reliance, our trust, our security instead of God, we are missing out on the miracles and the opportunities.

In an emotional sense, my ‘just in case’ reasoning leads me to withhold just a little bit of my energy or my time or my heart from God and from following the plans God has for me with 100%. ‘Just in case’ is protection and comes from doubt that maybe God will not come through when it matters or perhaps Gods plans will not work out the way I want them too.

When Jesus sent the disciples they were not promised everything would be rosy, in fact they were told they would be rejected, kicked out, ignored by the people, but they would also have their basic physical needs meet and would perform miracles, cast out demons and heal the sick. When they returned, they told of all the amazing things that had happened. I would have loved to hear those stories, faith building testimonies of God’s love and faithfulness.

When you set aside your spiritual ‘just in case’ and wholeheartedly rely and trust on God to keep His promises, to care for you and know what is best for you, you will see miracles, have an impact on the world around you and collect your own stories of Gods faithfulness and love.

“Don’t worry about your future. God knows you completely, accepts you unconditionally and loves you wholeheartedly. You can trust Him”
Nicky Gumbel

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

Keeping it real

By Staci McLean on Tuesday, September 29, 2020

A real woman is curvy, ladylike, feminine, slim, beautiful, graceful, happy, does not like to be a bother, quiet. REALLY?

A real man is strong, never cries, macho, tough, good at making things, out with the lads, like sports, a provider, the boss. REALLY?

A real mother is nurturing, self-sacrificing, patient, a good cook, cheerful, provides a stimulating environment, caretaker. REALLY?

A real Christian is always joyful and faithful, prayers all the time, knows all the books of the bible, never misses church. REALLY?

From a young age we are feed these types of stereotypes about what it is to be real. These stereotypes vary greatly depending on where you live, your culture and your family beliefs. The word ‘real’ means something that actually exist or occurs in fact; not imagined or supposed. So, by definition these lists of characteristics are not real, but they are just an opinion. Who are these so called ‘real’ people?

As a backlash against this ‘to be real you must be this’ message, a new message was created, just be yourself. And all though this sounds good on the surface, you do not have to look to far to see the cracks in this as well. It is more be yourself as long as the ‘yourself’ you are being is the one we tell you to be. Be yourself but use this product or buy this thing or go here and do this and then you will be yourself but an even better self.

With so many contradictory and confusing messages and the pressure to be something we are not; we learn to pretend. Plaster on a happy face and smile a fake smile and pretend we are all ok even if we are not, pretend we are all the things that we think we must be, we exhaust ourselves fulfilling an imaginary image.

The call is on us as individuals to be real, not a stereotype we have been feed but our real selves as God created us. Having real, honest conversations with each other not hiding our weaknesses or our strengths but having courage and faith to show the real us to others and accepting others as they are, not forcing them to conform to a version that is acceptable to us.

It is time we get real, especially as Christians we need to be real. The world needs us to be real. We need real churches talking about real issues and dealing with messy people. Christians who are truthful about who they are and the feelings they have and are not afraid of being vulnerable and open. By presenting a perfect airbrushed version of Christianity we isolate and turn away those who are broken and flawed, who look at the church and assume they will never accept me or understand the struggles I am facing. A broken world needs a real church, honest, raw and open to mess.

We serve Jesus and what we think is real is not important, the only opinion which is important is Gods. Lets get real and keep it real.

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:10

Addiction recovery Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

The Promise of Freedom

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Over time, we settle for what is easy and familiar. When you have lived with stress, depression, or pain, you get familiar with it and it becomes your companion; a measure by which you judge your life. There was a time in my Christian walk I was hiding behind a ‘good Christian’ façade, but I believed I was too broken, too sinful, or too damaged to expect anything more from life. The freedom I heard other people talk about was for them, not me. This was my lot and I was going to try and be content with it.

In the middle of mental illness, emotional pain, addictions, or even physical illness, it can be nearly impossible to imagine what it would be like to be completely free and joyful. Freedom is so much more than just being out of captivity or having a slight improvement in your circumstances. It is embracing a future that God plan especially for you and growing as a person and following your dreams.

My captivity at the time had been a combination of my past; my depression, my comfort zone, my religious beliefs, my addictions, and my low self-worth. I was a slave to these things. I could not move forward, but instead was held back in every area of my life. I was worn down by the struggle and the fight against my own inner demons and this kept me from seeing my potential.

I spent so much of my energy and time fighting to ‘break free’ from my addictions, my past, and my sin. I was fighting to fix myself and to do it through my own power. I was trying to earn my redemption when it was a gift God had already given me freely. I was wasting so much of my life pursuing the past rather than striving forward.

If we are not free, then we are captive. The world keeps us captive by telling us that we’re not good enough as we are; that we need to have more or do more. Jesus wants to turn everything on its head. Instead of making demands, he offers rest and recovery and to live freely and lightly.

My past had clouded the message of the Gospel. I just had to be more of everything and then I would feel ok and enough. I didn’t understand that what I did had no impact on God’s response to me. Grace is unearned and undeserved and God’s love and grace are abundant. That was the point of Jesus’s sacrifice for me, because of the cross I was accepted and loved. I could not do anything to make God forgive or love me more.

True freedom comes from an understanding of the total undeserved acceptance we have through Jesus. I never felt accepted or loved growing up and I never felt good enough. Even as a new Christian, I felt that the love and grace of God was based on my performance, on the things I did for God and the church. If I was just more attractive, smarter or more knowledgeable I would be worthy of love and acceptance. It was not enough for me to be just good, I had to be the best or perfect.

The freedom Jesus offers doesn’t come with special conditions. You can come to Jesus just as you are now. We do not need to ‘get our ducks in a row’ or try to make ourselves better before coming to Jesus. He wants us just as we are, warts and all. God loves me, not because of anything I did but because He created me. He knows all my very worst secrets and hidden weaknesses and loves me anyway.

As Christians, we are not promised to be slightly free or less burdened but totally free.

That change can happen quickly. It doesn’t need to be a long-drawn-out experience, freedom is instant. Your moment can occur right now. You don’t need to wait until you are at the end of your own strength to accept the strength of God in your life. In the New Testament, as Jesus travelled, he healed many people in an instant. In an instant you can choose to take that leap of belief and in an instant Jesus can change your life and free you forever. The Bible puts it plainly and simply: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Jesus sets you free and you are indeed completely free without conditions. He knows you, He loves you, and He has a plan for your life, to give you hope and a future.

Hope, joy, peace, and freedom are all things that do not depend on our circumstances, unless we allow them to. We can decide every day to live in freedom and joy, because we hold on to the hope for the future as we trust God’s plans for us.

Except from book by Staci McLean ‘Soaring out of the darkness’

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

Happiness is not a goal; it is a side effect.

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, September 16, 2020

‘Don’t worry, be happy’ was a popular song in the late 80s when I was a teenager. It became my manta and my main goal in life was to be happy. But I was not a happy teenager, I had a difficult home situation and was emotionally unstable. Due to this the ‘don’t worry, be happy’ movement for me became about seeking pleasure and avoiding pain at all costs. Seeking short term pleasure led me to make loads of terrible decisions with long last consequences and did not make me happy, it made me more miserable. Happiness itself should not be our goal and especially looking for it in a quick fix, but joy and long-lasting happiness is a side effect or by-product of a life lived well and with purpose.

The dictionary defines happiness as a feeling of joy, pleasure, or good fortune. Being pleased, content, glad and of good wellbeing. It is a nice definition but I think the key to happiness is not what ‘happy’ is but what causes us to be happy.

If your happiness is dependent on external sources, it will be unpredictable and changeable. If you rely on your family, your kids, your job, your successes, your house, your possessions, your holidays to give you feelings of happiness and joy, you will ultimately experience disappointment and unhappiness as those things can never satisfy us long term or they will let us down at some point.

But if you focus instead of living a good life, a life with God at the centre, in service to other people, caring about yourself and looking after your physical, emotional and spiritual needs you will be happy and have a type of happiness that is not dependent on the circumstances of your life but a happiness that has an eternal perspective.

Life is filled with a mixture of emotions and our happiness levels do fluctuate with our experiences. There will be special days when we feel delighted and elated with life. There are good days when we feel content and merry and bad days when we are stressed and sad. Sometimes these things happen all at the same time. There will be times when we suddenly feel sad at a happy event or have a moment of laughter in the middle of grief. Our humanity allows us to experience a range of emotions, but a solid baseline of happiness unrelated to any situation you find yourself in, will keep bringing you back to a joyful and grateful wellbeing.

That baseline of happiness is the joy and freedom of a relationship with Jesus. The joy of knowing Jesus is what allowed the disciples to sing in prison and rejoice in hardship and under persecution. Their happiness was because of their knowledge of and their faith in Jesus. Happiness was never their goal but it was a side effect of their faith.

“I have neither tongue nor pen to express to you the happiness of such as are in Christ.”
Samuel Rutherford

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

‘I can’t handle it any more’

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, September 9, 2020

What to do when you feel overwhelmed

A wave of dread came over me, I could feel my heart starting to beat faster, my stomach twisting. I felt like I was drowning and could not breathe, a huge weight rested on my chest. Overpowered and unable to think clearly or logically. Overwhelmed by the thought of the day ahead of me.

Have you ever felt like that? Totally overwhelmed, lost and in over your head? Sometimes it can be a huge task ahead of you that fills you with terror and fear or maybe it is just the normal day to day activities that just become too much to handle.

When we feel overwhelmed, it is because we are looking into the future and guessing what those future experiences will be like and we believe that it will be more than what we can handle. It is an emotional response from not being able to see a way through the current situation or not being unable to see a solution to a problem.

Overwhelm can feel like drowning in stress, being crushed or buried by the weight of your responsibilities and the people who are relying on you or your never ending ‘to do’ list. Swamped like this, your spirit and joy for life is extinguished.

The feelings of ‘overwhelmed’ shows themselves in many ways, it is different for each of us. Overwhelm might result in anxiety, anger, irritability, worry, doubt, helplessness, crying, lashing out or panic attacks.

With so much pressure, expectations, and busyness on us in this modern world, it is not surprising that many of us experience feeling of overwhelm and are affected by our responses to it.

The answer to overwhelm is not to do more or to run away and hide. But as Christians, we have a unique perspective to feelings of overwhelm, that is not to fight it but to surrender. It does not matter if you cannot handle any more, God can handle it all for you.

‘From the end of the earth I will cry to you whenever my heart is overwhelmed. Place me on the rock that’s too high for me’. Psalm 61:2.

When we surrender our feelings of overwhelm and surrender our desire to be in control to God and trust God to provide and protect us, He can lift us above our circumstances to give us a more accurate perspective. When we have a God led perspective and peace, we are then in a position to face our problems, make good decisions and cope with what is going on.

From this higher viewpoint, we can distinguish between tasks of necessity and self inflicted overwhelm from perfectionism, unrealistic expectations and over packed schedules. God is interested in your day to day and wants to help guide you to life a life of joy and purpose.

Practical tools to help with overwhelm

Ask for and accept help from other people

You do not need to do everything on your own. Often people want to help they just do not know how or what to do. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but understanding your needs is a part of emotional strength and health.

Be kind to yourself and challenge overwhelm thoughts

Thoughts like ‘I will never be able to do that’, ‘it is too hard’, ‘I can’t do it’, ‘I am useless’ are all unhelpful and unkind to yourself. Be your own best friend and support yourself through positive words and encourage your best efforts.

Set boundaries on your time and workload

Saying NO is ok. You don’t need to say yes to everything that is asked of you. Set boundaries on your time and your energy to do the things that are important and also some fun things.

Action a few quick and easy items first

When you have a long list of things to do and you feel overwhelmed, choose one or two of the easiest and less time-consuming items to do them first and do it immediately. By taking action and making a start you create momentum which will spur you on and motivate you to take action on the rest of your list.

‘The heart of God loves a persevering worshipper who, though overwhelmed by many troubles, is overwhelmed even more by the beauty of God’
Matt Redman

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration Stop your excuses

Are you the problem or the solution?

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Take responsibility and find growth

Do you procrastinate and then get stressed when the pressure comes on? Or do you get angry with your kids because you are tired, but you are tired because you were up late watching Netflix? Or do you keep repeating the same mistake over and over, even though you know it is the wrong thing to do and has negative consequences?

How often do we struggle and face obstacles that were simply caused by our own behaviours or inaction or rebellious attitude? It is easier to blame the world or everyone else, but to grow we need to take personal responsibilities for the difficulties we cause in our own lives.

Before I stopped drinking, I was a professional at creating drama and problems. I did have a difficult childhood and struggles growing up but most of the pain and brokenness I experienced was not from other people’s actions but from my own. I hurt people and caused problems through my drinking, through my out of control emotions and my self-destructive behaviour. And I did blame everyone else. I blamed my parents, my siblings, genetics, my friends, the ‘system’, it was everyone else’s fault but mine.

One of the scariest and the most liberating truths I faced in recovery was the realisation that I was responsible for it all. I was responsible for the things I had done that hurt myself and others, I was responsible for the consequences of my behaviours and I was responsible for how I had responded to the actions of others.

We are responsible for our actions and for own our lives, but we still mess up and do the wrong thing and, we also fail to do the right thing. The challenge is to stand by the choices we make, without blaming others or making excuses but accepting accountability.

To be able to change or to stop doing something that is hurtful or wrong can only come with admitting responsibility. Through acknowledgement and bringing your actions into the light, you can be empowered and strengthened by God to make changes and grow in your character.

Taking responsibility is not about judgement or guilt or shame or fault finding but facing truth and allowing growth. God has given us the gift of forgiveness, but to be forgiven you must first acknowledge your wrong doing. By avoiding responsibility, you miss out on grace and the freedom that comes from God’s forgiveness and mercy.

‘Some people create their own storms, then get upset when it rains’.
Unknown

Confidence and Self esteem Faith Inspiration

LABEL WITH CARE

By Staci McLean on Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Drop the labels and know who you really are.

We love to organise things into categories and put labels on them. It is our human nature, so we can more readily process information, make fast judgements, and communicate with each other. The problem with putting labels on people is not the process of labelling itself, it is the connotation or the implication of the label which is the problem. Labels are a mine field and can be destructive or empowering when applied correctly and honoured honestly.

Today I want to examine 3 types of labels we use commonly. Firstly, negative labels we use on ourselves and we use to hurt or diminish others. Secondly positive labels, which might be true and might feel good, but do not bring us closer to our true identity or closer to God and finally, the labels God gives us, that give us a deeper understanding of our purpose and reveals more about the nature of God.

Negative labels

There are many labels we pick up through life, many of them given to us when we are children that stick into adulthood. Bossy, chatterbox, messy, clumsy, chubby, immature, moody, ugly, nerd, loser, stupid, loner, teachers pet or freak, the list could go on and on. Then as we age, we add our own interpretations and self-critical labels – selfish, divorced, lazy, useless, not good enough, fat, aggressive, angry, failure, needy, unlovable. Then society puts its own labels and judgements on us based on our race, gender, financial status, career, education, attractiveness, body shape and religion.

You can see it is a complicated mess. Negative labels do not help you know yourself more or bring you any closer to happiness, they keep you from your destiny and overtime there is the danger that the negative labels become so ingrained that we think they are true. It is time to shake off those labels.

Positive labels

Common self help will tell you, to fix the problem of labelling you exchange your negative labels to positive labels. You can use labels like happy, beautiful, excited, powerful, awesome, healthy, wealthy, successful, intelligent, confident, independent.

These labels on the surface seem better than the negative labels and they will make you feel good. They might be true about you and empowering, but as Christians I think it is important that we do not use these labels alone to find our identity or our confidence. We need to be careful as there is a danger that positive labels are self-serving and not stable. There will be times when you are not happy or healthy or confident and if your security and self-esteem is tied up with that label your very identity can be shaken. I used to find my confidence and personal worth in the label of ‘productive’ but there came a time when I had a medical issue that meant I could not work for several months. It hit me hard as I felt worthless, useless and of no value as I could not be ‘productive’. Although productive seemed like a positive label it shattered me when my life changed, and I could not be productive. Who was I if I was not productive?

Positive labels can be used to encourage and inspire and drive us, but we should not rely on them for our identity or value or confidence.

The labels of God

God created you, He knows you more intimately than you know yourself. He knows your future, your purpose, your strengths, and weaknesses. There is no one better suited to tell you what your labels are. This is what God labels you as..

Forgiven (Colossians 2:13-14)

Conqueror (Romans 8:37)

Capable (Philippians 4:13)

Valuable (1 Corinthians 6:20)

LOVED (Colossians 3:12)

Chosen (Ephesians 1:4)

Strong (Philippians 4:13)

A Masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10)

A Child of God (John 1:12)

The labels God put on us, give us security, identity, esteem, freedom and purpose. They are consistent, never changing, not dependant on our performance and come from love. These are the labels we can embrace and cling to, these labels are not self-made or created by society but come from the Father and His love for us.

“The enemy will try to label you with everything you’ve done wrong. But God labels you forgiven, redeemed & restored”.
Joel Osteen