Negative Narratives.
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Many years ago I was talking with some friends when one of them suddenly, and very definitively, stated that she was ugly.
Perhaps she was seeking attention, or maybe she just needed some reassurance, either way I engaged in a conversation with her about her bold, and in my opinion erroneous statement about herself.
I asked, “who has told you that you are ugly?”
She replied something like, “no one, but it’s the truth”
We talked briefly, I offered some words I hoped would help and the conversation then moved to other things.
That short conversation happened over twelve years ago but it has stayed with me ever since, the memory of it never dimming.
I knew my friend was wrong, but that didn’t matter because she had told herself the negative narrative that she was ugly for so long that she had come to believe it was true.
She was speaking ‘her truth’ when she declared herself to be ugly, but ‘her truth’ was not ‘The Truth.’
Sometimes, and I don’t always understand why, we start to lose sight of ‘The Truth’ and begin telling ourselves a negative narrative that we eventually believe to be true.
We might tell ourselves that we are ugly, stupid, worthless, useless, unloveable, weak, unable to change, and so on. But all of these and many others are in direct opposition to the truth that we are the children of God.1
The words ugly, stupid, worthless, useless, unloveable, weak, unable to change, and many more are not in harmony with the truth we learn in Romans chapter eight.
I propose that knowing that we are literal children of heavenly parents is perhaps the most important and fundamental truth we must learn and remember.
God doesn’t make ugly, stupid, worthless, useless and unloveable people. So if we believe ourselves or others to be any of these then we are absolutely wrong.
Each of us is loved, valued, useful, and intelligent. Perhaps we could do better at reminding ourselves and others of this simple, but life changing and powerful truth.
Romans 8:16-17