Morning Musings #21 (June 19, 2020) Lack of Self-Worth instilled by Religion. And overcoming it! ❤️

#inadequacy #jesuschrist #selfworth
I have been involved in some type of religious tradition for 47 years; was born into it right out of the gate as a Catholic baby. And I am pretty sure that my conditioning began in the womb as a 6 month old fetus, as my mother would attend Catholic mass faithfully listening to the priest celebrate the blood sacrifice.
I was born with lack of "self-worth"... it's all I have ever been told since making entrance into this world. And what I have figured out since is that we are not welcomed by Truth, but by lies... lots of lies!
These lies were repeated by parents, teachers, pastors and priest...and the Bible "that we are all no good sinners, wretched and deserving of death". You become the very thing you are programmed with through repetition...and 47 years of repetition is in there DEEP. Today has been another "resurrection day" for me!
I have spent years getting buried by biblical teaching of 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙘𝙮 and 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧 over self, literally getting buried in the mindset that my person, personality, the human being I am is worthless and nothing to be desired.
And that it absolutely has to be discarded and replaced by Christ... to the point of where it is no longer me, but another. And the Bible verses to back this up are all there, of course and they will serve our confirmation bias as needed. Gal 2:20
Have you ever considered that perhaps the apostle Paul struggled with the same mindset of inadequacy (Rom 7:24), after all he came out from under the condemnation of LAW and initially our ability to express freedom comes out as to say "thank God He delivered me from myself", because that's been ingrained so deeply into our psyche that absolutely we want to crucify that bad SELF.
For nearly 40 conscious years I embraced that mindset of needing to erase, stamp out my own essence (self being) and become someone else, namely Christ.
I am trying to change my thinking (repent) of my 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, and trying to discover what it is like to have God accept and love you for all the 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 that we are in 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, without having to cover it over with another. (Covered by the blood of Jesus).
From the beginning we are told that "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes." Eph 1:4
Now that can be taken in a variety of ways, depending on how we have been conditioned to think of ourselves. In the past it just meant that since God sees the end from the beginning, He would know we would turn to Jesus some day, and then by some magical transaction be viewed as "holy". But the way I perceive it now, is so much better...and most of all liberating.
Many of us grew up with the teaching that God only loves us because He sees Christ... as the righteous garment that covers us misfits. But what if we have never been misfits to God? Maybe religion taught us that.
We have always been in Christ, and His eyes have always been on our beauty, faultless and without blame in His eyes... before He made this world for us to come play in. Then the serpent came and told us that "we were not like God" and that we were lacking. We believed his lies.
And how can we possibly love our neighbour as ourselves if we despise our human condition? Maybe we really are something beautiful that is not to be despised, but embraced... and that Jesus never intended for us to lose ourselves to gain Him... but to accept what we were/are in Him from the beginning.
Can you really fault me for wanting to get away from that?
No more condemnation, no more messages of inadequacy..
No more of someone has to shed their blood, to make me alright. Innocent blood was shed because of the Lie.
I am in the process of healing from this dysfunctional psychosis.
Jesus does not want me to loathe myself.... and I do not have to become Him... but merely recognise and know that the life that is in me, IS His.
And not constantly beat myself down with "I am no good, I need to become something or someone other".
I AM enough in Jesus' eyes.
More than enough.
That's how great His love is. This is 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 love! No conditions. And I love Him for bringing that Truth back to remembrance.
A child that grows up with healthy affirmations from their parents, does not become a PRIDEFUL or arrogant adult. Quite the contrary, it makes very 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 and 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 people who are secure in who they are, and don't feel ashamed of it.
Children that reflect their parents' magnificence, do not diminish the magnificence of the parents...but enhance and multiply that glory of the family name. In the same way, recognising one's divine value of soul causes no loss to the glory of Jesus Christ...but is the true way of honouring His name!

Live Loved! 🤲