Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

[Nannette]

Day 18

You Are Not Your Circumstances


Dear Sister in Christ,,

When life crowds in on us and pushes us hard, we can forget who we are. We start to look around us and think, “Is this me? Is this who I am now?” Our perspective gets blurred, and the enemy tries to persuade us that we are not the woman God has told us we are—the woman he’s promised we always will be.

Life has ups and downs for all of us. So whether you’re at the end of a hard day, in the middle of celebrating, or somewhere in between, there’s some truth you need to hear. And it’s this: you are not your circumstances.

In all the moments of your life, you are a woman of grace and strength. Even when you feel weak, you have divine power within you that is able to get you through anything. And you are loved far more than you can even imagine. How you feel today, what you’re facing, even what others may say doesn’t change that—and never can.

Who you are is secure forever. And you are a daughter of God, a holy princess, a woman who is chosen and cherished. Nothing and no one can take that away from you. You have within you a God who is bigger than your bad days and stronger than your circumstances, and he will never let you go. He has promised that nothing will defeat you and no one can stand against you.
So keep pressing forward, friend. Hold your head up high and know that you are loved.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.

Whatever has happened or is yet to be can’t change that even a little bit.
And it can’t change who you really are—a beloved child of God who belongs to and with him forever.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You

Heart-to-Heart Encouragement

 

[Nannette]

Day 19

You Can Be Gentle with Yourself

Dear Sister in Christ,

“I can’t believe I did that,” you say with a shake of your head over coffee. “Why can’t I get it together?” you question in an email. “What’s the matter with me?” you whisper into the phone.

You come down hard on your own heart in a way you never would on mine.
Why do we do that as women? We speak words of love, tenderness, and compassion to each other and then condemn ourselves. We talk to our souls in way we would never speak to a friend or sister. We pass harsher judgment on our lives than we would on even our enemies sometimes.

Here’s the thing: when we talk to ourselves that way, it grieves God just as much as if we said it to someone else. He loves all of his children the same, and the words we say to ourselves hurt his heart without us even realizing it.

It seems so right to treat ourselves this way. Don’t we deserve it? Isn’t what we’re saying true? Yet we forget that we are not living a life that’s about “what we deserve.” Instead we are living a life of grace. And grace speaks with a voice that’s full of gentleness. God calls us back not with condemnation but with kindness. If he doesn’t judge us (because of what Christ did for us on the cross), then who are we to judge ourselves?

It’s love, not the lashing of our tongues, that is meant to compel us. Punishment, law, and harshness—whether they come from ourselves or someone else—can never truly change us. God instead invites us into a beautiful, scandalously grace-filled relationship. Within this bond he remakes us not by breaking our wills but by lovingly shaping us like a potter molding clay.
Can you take that harsh hand off your heart and let him hold you instead? Can you trade your criticism for his gentleness and your impatience with yourself for his everlasting care? He has promised to complete what he has started in you, and it happens not by force but by faith.

Trust God to transform you. Receive his grace. Lean into his love.

You’re a work of art who belongs to Someone else. You have been purchased at a great price. So treat yourself the way you would anything of great fragility and worth—with gentleness and care.

XOXO
Someone Who Loves You


Heart-to-Heart Encouragement