You on YOU

Do you believe in yourself!? No excuses, no defense, no qualifications... do you believe in YOU? If you don't, why not? What keeps you from believing? Life and other people will challenge you, do you accept the criticism without question? Or do you ignore their words? Both positions aren't helpful. Bottom line is that without a belief in yourself you will experience a great deal of pain.

People's reactions to you and your words provide you with information about the affect and ramifications from what you do, say, and how you go about doing it. But it is only information until you determine what you do with it. Will it lead you to new understandings about yourself? You determine the effect. There is a scripture that can be applied.

   "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether
    they are from God..." (1John 4:1)

Granted that scripture is related to prophecy and testing the words and prophet against scripture, but I believe it can be applied to a variety of contexts. In this case, I believe it should always be applied to what other people tell you about you. Listen and then ask questions about why they have reacted the way they have without accusing them. 

Remember - only you have walked in your shoes. But this also applies to others, so their experiences are influencing their understanding and reactions. That's why I believe how we go about doing ourselves is equally important as the message. When we provide our 'why' we are saying what we do, then we give very important understanding to the listener. And... I am not talking about censoring what you say. I am merely suggesting that if you want your words to be understood, then how you present the words is important.

I started this with the question of whether you believe in yourself... and what you say and do. Those who present themselves as confident but not closed to a differing view give the listener with a much better basis to react. Their words that relate to you may be worth considering - or not. Last question is do you listen to yourself? You should. Is your message important? How would you react to what you are saying and how. Are there better ways of speaking? Being aware of how your message is received will help you to understand.