“Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.” ~ George R.R. Martin
I have said this many times before but it probably bears repeating: we are our own worst enemies. No one can possibly beat us when it comes to looking down upon ourselves, often with a sense of self-loathing. We see every single flaw — physical, emotional, spiritual — that we possess and often do not think that we will be any good.
In feeling so negative about ourselves, we give ammunition to those who might be our enemies. They know how to negatively affect us because we wear our feelings for ourselves on our sleeves. Whatever flaws we perceive ourselves having and denigrate ourselves for having them, others will key in on that and use it against us.
The devil is especially good at that. He doesn’t have to work hard at all when it comes to chipping away at our morale. We do it so often to ourselves that all he has to do is amplify our own negative feelings. Since he is telling us what we already believe about ourselves, we accept what he is saying and feel even lower.
We need to see ourselves for who we are — flaws and all — and accept who we are. When we do so, we will no longer hear the negative things being said by others. Instead, we will be able to hear the positive things being said by others and by God. That’s right. By God.
You see, when we are in our negative frame of mind focusing on our flaws, we only hear the voices of negativity, including the devil’s, and we accept all of that and internalize it. However, when we can accept ourselves for who we are, we hear the love and affection of others as well as the constant voice of God who says, “I created you exactly as you are and I love you exactly as you are.”
Hearing that, we really don’t need anything else.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God for the grace and humility needed to accept yourself exactly as you are.