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Who Told You That? Confronting the Lies Shaping Your Self-Image · The Rooted Woman Podcast

• Courtney Her Mind On Mission: Hello friends and welcome back to the Mission for More podcast. I'm your host Courtney and I am so grateful that you are here today. I just reviewed the analytics before I hit record and there have been more listens and more streams, more downloads. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me get God's word out, for helping me to encourage other women. If there is an episode that you have truly loved, I encourage you to screenshot it, share it on your stories, tag me at hermindonmission on whichever social media platform you are on and let's continue to share this out so that others can be encouraged and link arms with us as well. Today's conversation is one that I think every single one of us probably has dealt with, especially as women, just wrestle with throughout highs and lows within our lives. But ⁓ if there's this theme that I would like to go into, and it goes back to a phrase that has stuck with me from my pastor's wife that has just been monumental in my life in regards to discerning the voice of the Lord from the voice of the enemy. And that phrase is, who told you that? So today we are going to confront the lies that have shaped our self-image. Let's jump right in. Okay, so as I mentioned, we're talking about self-image today and we're not just going to talk about surface level confidence. We're talking about the thoughts that you have carried about yourself, maybe even from the time that you could remember your first thoughts. The things that we believe really deep down inside, the narratives that maybe others have spoken over us or we have said about ourselves that have shaped how we show up every single day. And I want to start with a simple and powerful question. Who told you that? Who said that? Who told you that you aren't enough? Who told you that you are too much? Who told you that you're too loud, too quiet, too big, too small, too this, too that? Who told you that you're behind? Who told you that you'll never change unless you do X, Y, and Z? Who told you that you have to use extremes in order to get the results that you want? Who told you that your worth is tied to how you look or how much you do? Who told you that? You can pause the episode right here and reflect on this if this is something that's already stirring up some big emotion in your heart, in your mind. Because I think if we're honest, a lot of the things that we believe about ourselves, God never actually said. This was something that maybe a parent said about us, a family member said about us, a kid on the playground said about us. I recently shared, and it had resonated so deeply with many women on social media, how I had a family funeral and I went back to my childhood elementary school while I was in my old town for the funeral. And the Lord had promised to me to do this on my way there and I was like this is silly I'm not gonna be late to the funeral I'm just gonna keep going straight to the funeral home and like not do this thing and I processed it out loud with my mom and my aunts I was like I really feel like the Lord wants me to go back to this parking lot and like reclaim some of the things that were said over me like I need to do this for a part of my healing journey but I feel like it's so silly like I wanted the validation from somebody else to be like yeah it's silly don't do it and they were like you should and I'm like that's not what I wanted them to say so I get in the and I pray and I drive over there. It's like four minutes, you know of a drive. So not long, not inconvenient at all. And I really was just avoiding it. I go there and I do this thing and I sobbed the entire way home and the Lord healed some deep places in my heart that I never even knew that I needed healed. I thought, well, that's behind me. You know, I've worked through these body image issues, but there was just a deeper root there that needed to be fully uprooted. And I'm so grateful that the Lord walked me through that. And that really spurred some areas of my heart where the Lord is having me pray for all of you and really encourage all of you in this area and I wanted to dive deeper into a podcast episode. So I want to talk about the first lie. I want to anchor us in scripture because this is not a new struggle. All the way back in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned, something shifted in how they saw themselves. In Genesis 3 11, God asks a question that I think is so, so, so relevant for us today. told you that you were naked? Who told you? Before this moment, there was no shame. There was no insecurity. There was no hiding. And they didn't even know, right? Because they hadn't eaten of the forbidden fruit. But the second that they believed something outside of what God had said, then everything changed. It shifted all of history forever and ever. And I keep coming back to that question. Like I said, my pastor's wife had talked about this before and has stuck with me ever since. I was like reading the word. She's saying it. I'm like, wow, God really wants me to learn something from this and be able to discern his voice versus the voice of the enemy. Truth versus lies. So who told you? Who told you those things that we talked about just a few minutes ago that you're not worthy, that your worth is tied to how you look? Whatever the lie is, I hope that you identified it and even just wrote some things down about how you were feeling or who said certain things to you. And if you're driving and listening to this episode, I just encourage you to be thinking about and praying about even as you're driving in the car or maybe you're on a walk. And later on today, just go and journal about this because I think we can so often try to process in our minds while we're doing something But things like this that are so deep may need to have that moment of pause where we do sit down where we do journal where we do pray where we have a cry sesh Whatever we really need to be able to fully work through it So basically shame entered the chat, right? If we want to talk like the today's lingo shame entered the chat and they believe the lie They believe the lie the same is true for all of us when the enemy gets in our mind and we believe believe the lie, then it contradicts the things that the Lord wants for us, the things that the Lord has told us, and the truth that the Lord has set out before us. And we are now victim to that lie. And the things that we say, the way that we act, all stem from the lie that we're believing. Just like Adam and Eve, they, what, she ran and hid, There was hiding, there was shame, there was insecurity. They knew that they were naked. And so just want you to think about how that applies here with the lies that you have believed about yourself. Maybe even just this past year, maybe only since being postpartum Maybe this is something that stems deeply from some wounds and some hurt in your childhood But I want you to go through that and really identify it so that we can hopefully uproot it today Let's talk about how we carry those lies, right? So if you've ever had thoughts like I'm not enough. I'm too much. I don't measure up I'll never look like her. I'll never get it together. I'll never be thinned. I'm thin. I'm just big bone I'm always going to be heavier or maybe you're underweight. I'm never going to have muscle like her. I'm never going to be strong enough. I've heard the words skinny fat like why are we describing God's creation our bodies this way and I want to be clear here I don't think that it's it's healthy to hide behind that. Whether you're not eating enough and that's not stewarding your body well, you're not nourishing your body enough, you're eating a lot of fast food and junk food, soda, all the things all the time, you're not getting whole and nutrient-dense foods, or you are overweight and you're saying, God made me this way and it's okay. There is stewardship in any of those portions or anything in between. There is stewardship that is involved in recognizing what is the best for the body that God has given us. I probably will not ever be a size zero. That's okay. God did not make me a size zero. That's not my frame. That's not my stature. I've never been like that. However, I also was not meant to stay where I was postpartum and I knew that my hormones were off. I was so exhausted. My thyroid was off. My vitamin levels were off. Everything was off. That's not optimal. I want to live optimally in the body that God gave me and in order to do that we have to recognize where we're at on this cycle and on this journey and what lies fuel us to stay there. These thoughts that we have they feel very real they feel very true and we may even speak them over ourselves all the time Like I said, ⁓ i'm just big boned or i'm always going to be bigger whatever those lies are And so we need to remember that even if we believe it and even if it's something that was spoken over us from A young age again the bigger bone thing was something that was spoken over me very young Thunder thighs that I would always have thunder thighs All those words that people said that I just believe that that's how my body was made and eventually I of gave me like a carefree living and I didn't take care of my body because I was like well this is just how I am and it felt so true but the key thing here is to recognize that if it feels true I talked about feelings last week so I hope that you can see how these are kind of stringing together even though I didn't mean for them to I just want to say that I did not like plan out this is not a series the way that these episodes are really stringing together is all the Lord and I want to say that ⁓ but just because it feels true doesn't mean that it is truth and In John 8 44 it says that the enemy is the father of lies. And so here's the thing, he doesn't always come in loud or obvious ways. Sometimes it is, okay this kid told me on the playground that I was fat. And then later on somebody told me that I had thunder thighs. Then I was told that I'm just thick. Then I was told that I just have big bones. You know, all these things really compounded into the way that I viewed myself. I am just bigger. ⁓ Or in the seasons when I was really struggling with self image and I was hurt by the words that were said. I'm fat and I'll always be fat and unhealthy. Not true, right? But it felt so true in the moment and it wasn't just built over one comment and over one situation. It was built over a series of years in my life. Sometimes it comes in like that. It's very, very quiet. It's repeated over time until it becomes something that you absolutely believe because you've heard it enough. Maybe it was one thing that was so out of the ordinary that somebody told you that you just can't shake those words. Sometimes that is what happens, but you have to recognize where it came from, if there's a pattern and why you believe the things that you believe. And once you believe it, you know, it starts shaping everything that you do, the way that you shop for your body, the way that you show up in a room full of people. confident or not confident you feel, the way that you interact even in your relationships, your willingness to obey the Lord in certain areas because maybe it just feels like well I'm stuck in this place so why even you know whatever it is give up sugar, give up coffee, eat more nutrient-dense food, your willingness to step out in what God is calling you to do. It can affect that too because if your confidence is down and your relationships are down and you're struggling to obey because these lies feel so about the way that you see yourself, the way that you look in the mirror and think about yourself, the way that you show up in other rooms because of the way that you feel, then your willingness to step out into what God is calling you to do is very, very hesitant. Just the same way I was there. And I'm speaking from experience in all these things that I'm sharing. And I think if I didn't have the experience, I wouldn't know how to share about it because it's so... ⁓ so much of a pattern in my life. And when I had come into being online for the Holy Habits challenges, I've shared this. I was not willing in fullness to step out in what God wanted me to do because of the way that I had spoken about myself. And it's crazy to me that I had even gotten back there because at that point when my now youngest was born and I started struggling with the hormones and the weight loss and things like that in greater measure than I ever had before postpartum, I had gone now. what five six years without thinking this way about my body and so now I'm thinking things again and I'm feeling ways that I used to feel and I'm uncomfortable in my clothes I just want to hide behind big clothes and I'm speaking horribly about myself and so to be in that place and to be feeling called out of it and not just called out of it but then also to share on social media about it of course I had a little bit of hesitation because I was struggling myself because of the lie that I believed so ask yourself What am I struggling to step out into or where am I not confident or where are my relationships or my obedience to the Lord affected? because of the way that I feel about myself or because of the lie that I'm believing in this season, whether it's again, a one time spoken thing that really impacted you or a pattern of words that have been said over you time and time again, where is it affecting you in your life? I think when we see the lie and we know how it's affecting us, it is easier to be like, whoa, this really is impacting me and I don't want it to and it's better to turn it or easier to turn it around. So why do we believe these things so easily? That's the question I was asking myself in the season when I started struggling again postpartum because I'm like I have overcome this. Why in the world am I now struggling again? I don't understand why it's so easy for me now this postpartum to begin to think this way about myself. And I think there's a few reasons. Sometimes it really is repetition. It's what we hear over and over again and when we're really vulnerable sometimes we go back to those things that were said. Sometimes it's old wounds, things that were said to us, experiences we had, moments that shaped how we saw ourselves. Honestly, comparison plays a huge role in this. We are constantly seeing, this struck me so hard the other day, constantly seeing curated versions of other people's lives, of their bodies, of their homes, of their callings. That's why I try to be so stinking transparent on social media and on this podcast, because I'm telling you everywhere, everywhere, I turn either... You got you people online that are very vulnerable, but either it's like the polished home or the polished version of their quiet time I don't only want to share the polished version version of myself I want you all to know that I am not perfect because I never want you or anybody to look at me and say ⁓ Well, Courtney has it all together. And so I'm gonna do what Courtney's doing I want you to see I don't have it all together and the only way that I can do the things that I'm doing is by the grace of God out of obedience to God walking in step with God being led by his spirit. And if anyone looks at me, I hope to God, please Lord, let them see that. Because I want to encourage everybody to be in that own place in their own lives. Are you in step with the spirit? Are you being obedient? Are you led by the Lord? Or are you led by the way that you're feeling about all these things because of all that you're seeing and all that you're consuming? If we miss out on that quiet time, we are missing out on what the Lord has for us. And we are cultivating a new version of our lives based on what we are consuming. And if that's on social media you're cultivating a version of your life or comparing a version of your life to what other people are doing in their lives. Where is the originality in that? Where is the uniqueness that God gave you in that? And when you're sitting there and comparing, where is the reality in that? You're comparing to somebody's highlight reel and you're trying to build off of somebody's highlight reel. My husband and I were on date night last Tuesday and while we were there I was just looking around. We love people watching and we're like, ⁓ look at this grandma out with her grandkids. You know and just like owing and eyeing over the sweetest little things that we're seeing And I turned to him at one point and I was like, you know what? I feel really refreshed right now because while I was sick I was on social media more than normal and I feel like it did start getting in my head and I told him I'm like it is just so refreshing to look around and see real bodies and not just see real bodies of people who are like trying to hide real bodies like look at this girl over here in her real body like laughing with her her friends and like having the best time. It just it brought me so much joy because I was like I for two weeks of tons of sickness in my home and being on social media way more than normal ⁓ I was so impacted and I would say I mean I have screen time limits so even though I was on more than normal like I normally do 30 minutes a day up to 60 minutes a day and then I have my phone like on a brick schedule and so me being on more than normal is still less than the average woman who is on social media. that impacted me so much about how I was feeling about myself and being out in public with other real bodies and real women had encouraged me so much like I just I can't even imagine the people who are on social media all the time getting lost in the scroll all the time how you might be feeling about yourself and I'm telling you we have to get out of that comparison trap and we have to remember what the Lord is is saying of us and what the Lord sees in us and we have to come back to that and we believe the lies so easily because of the things that we consume, because of the lies that are being spoken, because of maybe the place that we're in that feels really familiar. I know for me, in that season postpartum that I was talking about, I think that I really started struggling again because for once I did not have to snap back. I did not have to force healing because I had three really traumatic birth and postpartum seasons. Well, would say the second postpartum wasn't horrible, but there was a lot of trauma within the first three. births and we also had a miscarriage in between there and then by the time we came to the fourth I knew when I had my daughter I knew that it was going to be so redemptive and it was was redemptive it was refreshing I take a full 12 weeks where I had a mother's helper at our house we had it was in the summer and so we had reached out to our sitter and I'm like do you want to come like regularly so that I can room in with the baby and really just soak this in because I've never postpartum like had a season where I actually was able to enjoy it and I just want to like that to myself. I feel like I need that redemption postpartum and I did. But I'm telling you because I was in such a great place, I processed emotions way deeper and I processed a lot more about how I was feeling and I processed a lot more about the previous births because they were so traumatic in comparison to this beautiful birth that I had just had with my last. So even sometimes we're in that place where it's like I'm doing really well. God is doing so much in my life. He's a redemptive father and all of a sudden we're struggling and it doesn't make sense but maybe for once there's room. for you to process and that's why you're there. In Romans 12, it tells us, not be conformed to this world. Be transformed of the what by the renewal of your mind and we have to renew our mind regularly again Whether it's hey, I took that 12 weeks and I was really like honed in with the Lord I was really snuggled up with my baby I was enjoying like I mean a simple like breezy day where the curtain was moving like I was just enjoying every single little thing that felt like a glimmer of God in my life and was just so I felt so renewed and refreshed and it gave me again this segue to process through some really big things and it was a beautiful, beautiful thing too because I don't say I wanted to struggle in that area, but I'm grateful that God gave me the space to walk it out so that I could come back better and I could come back again more renewed and refreshed. And when we are sitting there and we're on social media and we are trying to conform to the world through comparison, that's not being transformed by the renewal of our mind. If we are not intentional about renewing our minds and what is going into our minds and how it's affecting us, we will naturally absorb what the world is telling us. We will naturally fall victim to that comparison. So my encouragement here, I don't want to spend too much more time on it, is just please, please, please be so aware of what is going on around you and what is going on within you and whether it's from the Lord versus if it's from the enemy. And so how do we do that? What do we do with that when we're like, ⁓ this is totally a lie from the enemy? Well, we need to take our thoughts captive, right? When we are struggling, I need to be aware of it. And I think sometimes when we're aware of it, we dwell on it too long and then we sit in it and we speak it over ourselves. So you have to be so careful to balance it out. But okay, when I was postpartum, something that I had said when I had, you know, gotten into our new house and things had settled down a little bit and we were through some of these new transitions, I just fell into this space where I kept saying to myself, like, my body is broken. And I would say it to my husband, like, I feel like my body is just broken because I wasn't able to shift back into feeling normal, which I normally do postpartum within the first, I would say somewhere between six and nine months, feel like, wow, I feel like myself again. And I wasn't getting that in this postpartum season with my last. And so I had to start to take those thoughts captive. Okay, my body is not broken. Who said that? Who said that my body was broken? It was a lie that the enemy fed me and I started to believe it. And then everything that was going on with my body was validating the lie. instead of praying over those things or asking the Lord to reveal to me how I needed to steward things in my life, whether it was nutrition or fitness or whatever, I was struggling with trying to... combat this broken body thing in my own strength and it was just fueling me in this horribly negative direction. And so I needed to go back to that. It's one thing to really recognize the lies and it's another thing to actually walk out in freedom. And in 2 Corinthians 10 5 it says at the end of that verse, every thought captive to what? To obey Christ. So not just, yeah, take your thoughts captive. No, I want to take my thoughts captive so I can walk in what God is calling me to walk in. I want to take my thoughts captive so I I can't obey Christ and love others the way that he first loved me if I don't love myself because I'm looking at myself through a lens that the Lord never called me to look through and it's the enemy's lens and I'm speaking all these lies over myself. I'm believing all the lies. I'm stuck in the trap of comparison. How can I obey the Lord if I'm in that place? Take every thought captive. How do we do this again? Okay, step one. I'm break it down in three steps and hopefully this will help. You can't fight what you don't identify. You have to recognize what is going on and you have to recognize where it's coming from. That's why I said in the very beginning if something's already being stirred up, pause because I really want you to be able to recognize that. Start paying attention to the thoughts that you have. Where are they coming from? And ask yourself over and over again, who told me that? Who said that? Where did this come from? Especially thoughts that bring in shame or insecurity. or fear. If it's bringing in any of those things, you really need to dig deeper because it's now affecting the way that you are perceiving yourself, the way that maybe you perceive relationships, the things that we went through earlier. And then step two, you need to combat and reject that lie. Just because you think something doesn't mean you have to agree with it. It could be a thought that's there and then I always say this to women when I'm working with them one-on-one. Crumple that thought up and throw it out. do not sit there and be like ⁓ this lie on this piece of paper that I see visually in my mind Let me add to it. You know, why don't we do that? ⁓ No, I'm going to grab it right away. I'm gonna surrender it to the Lord I'm gonna recognize this is from God I'm crumpling it up and I'm throwing it out and if you need that visual I hope you use it every single time and I pray that it helps you ⁓ and then we need to step three Replace it with truth. So now I'm gonna get my little visual, you ⁓ Post-it note out and I'm going to say okay what so the enemy said to me your body broken ⁓ your body is broken. ⁓ I can go into scripture and find verses that the Lord says to me and I'm going to write them down that combat that exact lie. I'm going to write it down. Maybe I even memorize it. Maybe I make it my phone screen, but I'm going to pretend that I'm writing it down and sticking it in my mind where the enemy was trying to put in that lie. I crumpled up his piece of paper. threw it out and now I've got this post-it. It's like a reminder and I'm visually going to pretend that it's there that I see it in my mind and it has that verse on it and every single time that lie tries to come in, I'm going to close my eyes and visualize that Post-it note with that verse on it and maybe even write it down so that you can actually in the physical visually see it and then stick it on your mirror stick it in your car but we have to be able to go back to that truth We don't just wanna remove lies, I want to replace them. If I remove lies, then what is that? Empty space. And if I have empty space, the enemy's just gonna keep trying to feed that empty space. But if that empty space, just like a foundation, is filled, right, with the Lord, if he fills the void, he fills the gaps, then now I have that strong foundation again, and it's going to be that much harder for the enemy to come in. I really hope this is helping you practically. Okay, I wanna talk about if... The lie is this, how can you practically say, okay, this is the truth that the Lord says to me because I know that this can be really, really difficult to come up with on your own if you have never done this before. So I'm going to give some examples for you before we end today's episode. Okay, so if your lie is, I'm not enough, that is one that many, many women struggle with and I know that many of you who listen and in are in the Holy Habits Challenge, you struggle with this because that's what is coming in my messages. So I'm not enough, your truth is, 2 Corinthians 12, 9, my grace is sufficient for you. You're right, I'm not enough, but the Lord is and his grace is sufficient for me in the season that I'm in. So will I cling to that and trust that every time the enemy says you're not enough. I'm gonna whisper back, you're right and I'm so grateful because I get to lean on the Lord. 2 Corinthians 12, 9, right? ⁓ Have these spiritual weapons in your back pocket so you can fight the enemy in a moment's notice. If the lie is, my worth is tied to how I look and maybe you don't think those words exactly but that's the lie that has been spoken over you or the things that have been spoken over you that make it seem like this lie is very true in your life. 1 Samuel 16, 7 says, the Lord looks at the heart. My worth is not in the way that I look. My worth is in my surrender. my obedience and whether or not I'm being transformed right the renewal of my mind the purification of my heart the Lord is going to look at my heart where is my heart is it filled with bitterness and frustration and rage and anger because of the things that have been spoken over me or have I purified my heart to be able to see what the Lord sees in me and in other people If lie is I have to earn my value. So maybe you over diet or you're doing juice cleanses once a month or you know, you keep doing this like starting over on Monday trend and you keep falling victim to being in this like hamster wheel because you feel like you have to earn your value and you try to earn it and then you burn out. I want to remember ⁓ Ephesians 2 10 for we are his workmanship. I don't have to earn anything because the Lord created me the way that I am. All I have to do is obey. It's not about earning. It's about walking out and obedience and if I know that and if I believe that I can replace that lie every single time anything that I'm doing or any opportunity that comes up I used to struggle with this so if there was an opportunity I was like ⁓ pick me I'll do it I'll do it that sounds great I would love to serve I would love to help I would love to fill that void I would love to try to show up for everywhere be everything to everybody and there is no way that I can do that because I am NOT the Lord and so when I remembered no I am first his workmanship and if he calls me to serve and he says yes do this in this season wonderful But if I feel that hesitation as I pray and ask for leading and guiding from the Holy Spirit I'm not gonna do it because I don't have to earn my value anymore And that's the lie that I used to believe in the way that I used to live out my life. I'm not doing that anymore I'm remembering that I am his workmanship and if I am working myself into the ground How can I walk that out and serve well and steward well all that he's given me? Remember this you are already created with value You're not striving to earn something that God has already given you you have to just remember to speak truth more than you listen into the lies every single day. It has to be so intentional. This is the renewing of your mind over and over and over again. Just because you've done it once doesn't mean you've done it forever. This is something that we have to live out all the time. Why? Because the enemy is on the prowl and it says that in the Word of God. Now we want to live from truth. We've replaced the lie. We're going to live out from this truth that we have read from the truth that you have on your little Post-it note whether it's in the actual I wrote it down on Post-it note it's on my mirror or it's just your reminder in your mind that you have visually thought about that Post-it note. If you believe you're not enough you're going to shrink back. If you think I'm not good enough for this thing then when the opportunity comes up and the Lord actually does want you to say yes to that thing you're not going to say yes because you're you're shrinking back because you're living out of that lie. If you believe your worth is in performance then you're gonna strive, you're gonna burn out, and you're gonna be stuck in that place, which is why I wrote Living in the Overflow, because I came from that season, and I know how much it can be such a challenge for us. If you believe the lies, then you're going to live bound. You're not going to be living free. You're not going to be out there with abundant peace and abundant joy because you're struggling. You're struggling with the lies. That's why we want freedom. So John 832 says, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The lies that the enemy whispers, That's not gonna set you free. A little news flash, like we need to have the truth in our lives to set us free. Freedom does not come from trying harder or pursuing more things. It literally comes from... I'm going to open my hands. I'm going to surrender. I'm going to dig deeper. And I want the Lord to reveal to me where this lie came from, what truth I need to replace it with, and how to actually live that out. And the Lord will reveal it to you. The Lord was the one that prompted me to go back to my ⁓ elementary school and to reclaim those lies. I would have never decided to do that on my own. I don't want to get up and prop my, I didn't have my tripod or anything. I literally like propped my phone on the car. There's people laughing at me on their porch. And I would have never sat there and done that. But the Lord prompted to me too and I wanted to obey even after some hesitation. You see this theme in my life, I'm always like, is that really you God? And it was so healing for me. So just remember that surrender, live rightly by obeying and by ⁓ remembering to get into the word so that we can renew our mind and we're not stuck in this trap of comparison or being filled with the lies that others might be speaking over us or things that we are perceiving ourselves through because of what we are consuming. When your identity is rooted in Christ and when you are in the word, you're going to show up differently. So remember before I said if you believe you're not enough you're gonna shrink back if I know that I am enough in Christ and that with him I can I can do the things that he's calling me to do because he's going to lead and guide me through it I know I'm surrendered and submitted I'm not gonna shrink back. I'm gonna be like that one's for me I'm I'm happy to come up and serve in this way because I know that the Lord has been calling me to this he's been placing out of my heart and I know that I will steward it well because of where he has me and you have to be confident in that it's not being egotistical or prideful it's being excited because you're finally free and you can do the things that the Lord is calling you to do. You're gonna show up differently when you believe that your worth is in performance. You know you're striving constantly. What's the opposite of that? You're gonna show up and you're gonna be like, let me pray about this and really sift through is this a yes or a no in this season because I don't want to misstep where the Lord is leading me and I want to steward it well. Remember, you do not have to be perfect. You just have to be secure in your identity. There's a constant theme here of the enemy attacking our identity. You have to be secure in that identity in the Lord and you're not gonna get that if you're not in the word. So I'm encouraging you today. Please get into the word. Please ask who told me that? Who told me that? Every single time a lie comes in, who said that? Does this align with what the Word of God says about me? Does this align with the way that God sees me? And if it doesn't, I'm going to crumple it up, I'm going to throw it out, I'm going to replace it with truth, I'm going to walk in obedience and freedom because that is what God has to offer for us. That is the portion that he wants you to walk in. I'm going to pray for you. You know what the woman on the other end of this phone or computer, wherever she's listening, believes about herself. You know the beliefs that have taken root in her heart. God, would you so gently reveal any lie that she has been believing about herself? Will you give her the discernment to recognize what is not from you? And Father, would you replace those lies with your truth? Remind her that she is your workmanship, that she is seen and known and deeply loved by you. Teach her how to take her thoughts captive and align them with your word, Father. Renew her mind. daily God and help her to hear your voice above every other voice. We thank you that freedom is found in truth and we choose today to believe what you say over how we feel, what you say over what the enemy is whispering. In Jesus name, amen. ⁓ If this episode encouraged you, would love for you to share it with a friend or leave a review. It helps more women to step out into truth and freedom. I'm so excited to continue to link arms with you. We do have guests in the future, but there are just some things that the Lord has been putting on my heart. And it is so apparent now as I see the episodes really stringing together why he has done that. I just pray that this episode has blessed you and that you are feeling a little bit more free or fully free as you continue to go through this healing journey, as you continue to pursue what the Lord has for you, as you continue to shut down the lies of the enemy, and as you continue to walk in all that God has called you to. I will see you back here next week.