I am absolutely weary of some of the memes aimed at Christian women these days. You know the ones I mean, ladies- the ones with lovely pictures of flowers or an ocean or a meadow with a superimposed flowing script practically BEGGING us to believe how much worth we have to God, how awesome we are, how we need to discover the greatness within, how God gives us limitless potential and a superfantastic divine purpose, blah, blah, blah.
You know why they have to take that begging tone to try to get us to believe those things? Because they’re not true. You know it, and I know it.
You’re not awesome or great or imbued with some radical purpose or potential that will magically make your life phenomenal and give you oodles of self esteem once you discover it.
You’re a dirty, stinking, rotten, rebellious sinner. You yell at your kids. You don’t submit to your husband. You act out of selfishness. You lie. You gossip. You covet. You bow down to your idols instead of to Christ. You sin against a holy and righteous God in a thousand ways every day in thought, word, and deed. Just like I do. Let’s put on our big girl panties and just admit it. (1 John 1:8,10)
That’s why these memes and false teachers have to try so hard to convince us of how terrific we are- deep down we know we’re not. It’s a lie. And putting all our eggs in the basket of that lie of greatness sets us up for disappointment and self-loathing every time we sin.
Ladies, stop listening to this hearts and flowers, cotton candy, pump up your ego so you’ll feel better about yourself dreck, and put your faith and hope in the One who will never let you down. The One who looked at all your nasty thoughts and evil deeds and said, “I’m going to the cross for her anyway.” The One who sees all your daily faults and failures and is still willing to forgive when you repent. The One who’s faithful to you even when you’re not faithful to Him.
Stop focusing on how great you are – because you’re not – and put your focus on Christ and how great, and awesome, and superfantastic, and terrific He is. Because if you’re feeling bad about yourself, it’s not because you don’t have a high enough self esteem. It’s because you don’t have a high enough Christ esteem.
We’re not worthy. He is. Let’s get over ourselves and give Him the glory, and honor, and attention, and focus, and praise He so richly deserves.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
Michelle Lesley 
You have such a gifted way of putting thoughts into words. I cringe every time I see one of these memes. Thank you Michelle!
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Wow thank you for those words, I have felt that way for a long time, I know that so much out there is so untrue and I believe I have to focus on Jesus and not all that fluff that is out there for women. Great article.
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Great post, Michelle! Yes, I wish we would all realize how very wretched we are and how without the blood and love of Jesus Christ we would be damned to eternal torment. His love is truly amazing and humbling.
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Thank you for reminding me of this truth. I find myself bombarded with the message that I have worth in and of myself. I remind myself that when God looks at me He sees the righteousness of Christ, not my stinking, rotten, rebellious self. I forget that God saved me and He is the One who softened my heart. I did not even want anything to do with Him, but He saved me in spite of my attitude. That realization is humbling, not esteem boosting. I also remember that He did die for my past sin, current sin and future sin and He loves me and will always love me. That truth gives me rest; it makes me grateful and praise Him for what He has done and is doing. It removes the struggle between being told that I am awesome and knowing that I am anything but awesome. Thank you again!
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Yes, yes, yes. I just went to a woman’s conference, and the speaker said all these things. She said we are enough, and we are worthy. Even her “invitation” at the end was to simply become a woman of faith if we weren’t already. Faith in what? There was no mention of sin, repentance, Jesus’ dealth or His resurrection. Everyone also received her new book, “Made Well”, which is basically a book on self love. In the book she says that we are good from the moment we are born, and that even though we have darkness in us, at our very core there is light. This stuff is creeping in to our churches and women seem to be oblivious to it.
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A million AMENS, Michelle. Back in the day I was told that God delights in my awesomeness, and that I just needed to believe in myself to unlock my potential.
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Thanks, Amy!! :0)
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Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
because of Your truth. ~ Psalm 115:1
Again, as a young Christian, all I can say when I see and hear what comes from these packed conference centers is…since when did the message of the gospel become so cool – so “YOU”?
The gospel message is, was and never shall be about me and you…it is all about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done!
And, from what I read in His Word, I do not believe the Lord Jesus proclaiming His message of repentance would have ever packed a stadium full of followers…unless, of course, He was giving away free food. :o)
Thank-you, Michelle, for bringing some sanity to the forefront and for reminding us of a truth we need to hear…daily.
To God be all the glory!
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So true, Bekki. And about Jesus packing a stadium sans free food? John 6, especially verses 66-68 :0)
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This is the lady’s blog that I came across before leaving tx- she’s the one that encourages discernment.
(Actually found her when looking up info on Lysa Terkeurst divorce)
Sandra Denny
Sent from my Phone
>
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Hi Sandra-
Were you meaning to e-mail this to someone? If so, just wanted to let you know that it ended up here and might not have gone through in your e-mail :0)
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All Praise, all glory to the Lord God….all the time!
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This!!!!! Thank you so much, Michelle for speaking truth. I can’t tell you how thankful I am that there are women like you out there who are discerning and don’t fall for the fluff. It breaks my heart how many friends I know who listen to women that tell them how great they are and that Jesus loves them just the way they are. They don’t want to hear about their sin and need of repentance. I keep praying that God removes the blinders from their eyes so they can come to a saving faith. I love your blog – thank you for always speaking boldly about our Savior!
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Thanks Kristen :0)
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