Free to Be Me: Overcome the Comparison Trap and Discover Who God Made You to BeSample

The end of nearly every fast and every perfect vacation is the same for me. I wonder, "Do I have to go back?" When I've had an excellent fast experience, I pause before re-engaging the thing from which I've been fasting. When my wife and I went on a memorable anniversary vacation last year, I missed my children, but I wondered, "Can we just stay here and keep doing this thing?"

If you've been off social media for a few days, you might be feeling like this. Do you want to extend your break from the apps? The benefits of a few days without social media can be profound, so imagine the potential of a few weeks. My friends attended a church that did a 40-day digital fast last year, and the stories they shared with me were incredible. Even when they came back to their devices again, their relationship with them had changed permanently.

Please ask yourself some questions about how things are going.

-What have you learned from your break so far?

-What do you miss? What were you happy without?

-How have you heard God speaking to you during your break and through this reading plan?

-What have you been looking to give what can only God give you?

-Who must you talk to about what you've been discovering?

I don't have absolute answers to whether you should be active on social media or how you choose to use it. But regardless of the devices and apps you choose to engage with, I want to encourage you to consider adopting a new practice.

I want to encourage you to begin preaching the Gospel to yourself every day.

I hope you're involved in a local church where you hear the Gospel every week. However, hearing the Gospel for one hour per week is not enough when living 168 hours per week. We need to hear and remember the Gospel every day!

My wife once had a professor who shared with the class about his struggle with body image. He had battled profound insecurity due to his challenges with his weight. One day, he realized he was in a spiritual battle, not just a physical one. As a result, he had a crazy idea. “What if I began my days by meditating on what God says about me?”

Each morning, he began standing in front of his mirror before he got dressed. He would look at himself and quote verses from Psalm 139, Romans 8, and Ephesians 1-2. He would remind himself that God loved him so much that he sent Jesus into the world so that he could have an everlasting life. He would state that he was a masterpiece and God's beloved son. Saying these words didn't make his weight magically get smaller, but preaching the Gospel to himself changed how this man saw himself.

What if you did something similar? What if you added a moment to your daily routine when you reminded yourself what God says about you? Before the world tells you what it thinks about you, you need to hear from the God who knows your name.

Changing your relationship with comparison begins with tuning in to who God says you are. Each day, as you meditate on God’s word, God has the power to transform how you see yourself and what you believe about who you are.

One day, by God’s grace, I am confident that you will be able to say the following words with complete honesty - "What God says about me is the truest thing about me." Since Jesus knows you better than anyone else and loves you more than everyone else, I pray that you lean into what He says and live out the freedom He offers. May you be free to be who God says you are!

If you enjoyed this plan, I would love to continue to equip and encourage you by sharing a complimentary copy of You Are Who God Says You Are. This resource includes the three simple tools I've found that help me when I begin to slip in my journey away from insecurity. These tools remind me of what God says about me, and I would love to share them with you today.