Are you ready for some active participation? This was one of my favorite activities to do with the students in our small ministry school. The following statements must be read ALOUD. You can do it in a room alone or find a small group and do it together. Either way, it is guaranteed to be a powerful act. I wrote these statements from real life experience and I too, have trouble believing them sometimes. But I still know them to be true.
Faith must be engaged when we struggle to accept how much God loves us. Verbalizing His love for us is a healthy way to move from hope, to faith, to real belief. When we speak these affirmations to ourselves, about ourselves, it changes the way we think and believe.
Yes these sentences must be spoken aloud. It makes a difference, you’ll see. Try not to argue with or skip any of these facts. Ready, set, go…
- When God thinks of me, He smiles!
- When God hears my voice addressing Him, He leans forward and listens as if I am the most important voice in the universe.
- God looks forward to our times together with anticipation.
- If I miss some appointments with God, He still greets me with total joy and acceptance the next time!
- God actually takes delight in me!
- He knows my deepest, most secret thoughts and they do not weaken His delight in me one bit.
- God winces with pain when I put myself down.
- God speaks words of encouragement to me through the people who love me.
- The words of disappointment and condemnation that I sometimes hear are never from Him.
- He looks for ways to protect me and give me joy.
- He may even chuckle when He steps in to protect me from danger and I never even know it.
- God loves to surprise me with good things.
- God loves my unique song.
- I can do nothing to change God’s love for me.
- I am His prized possession.
- He cannot take His eyes off me.
- God says that I am a sweet aroma to Him.
- That’s why He loves to be close to me.
- I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.
- I am SO God’s favorite!
My favorite style of using this little activation was to print each sentence out on a separate slip of paper and hand them out randomly to a group. I numbered them so they were read in this order. There have been awkward silences, tears and laughter as each one struggled to read the words before them. The beauty of handing the sentences out randomly is that I believe and I try to help the readers believe, that it is not truly “random”. Holy Spirit knows who needs to read each statement, and He sets us up perfectly every time.
There is power in truth. Everything in you will want to argue with these statements. You will want to add a “but…” to the end of each one. Stop yourself from arguing with the truth of His love for you. You will not win that argument. God has a pretty powerful case and He does not give up, ever. You might as well surrender now. Believe that the one and only Creator of the Universe loves you. You are SO His favorite! Got it?
I would love to hear how this worked for you. Did you argue or add a “but..”? Let us know in the comments, ok?
Susie
Oh, I love this! The whole list made me smile, though I must admit I did fumble over one of them. 🙂 I’m going to print out this list and read one each day…Thank you.
Blessings, Joan
Yay Joan, I am so glad to hear this! it is an ongoing project that’s for sure!
Susie
This is powerful stuff…wow! And I love the way you presented these statements individually to random people and how they reacted…that is truly a God moment. Thank you for sharing with us. I needed to see these words myself this week.
Thanks for commenting Pam. I did not do much public speaking in the church or the school, but when I did, I always wanted it to be fun and interactive. So I did this little exercise a few times and loved it a lot. Now I read these statements and they are so powerful and even more true than I knew at the time.
Precious. It’s better than the list that sometimes pops up in my head! Ugh! Practice makes perfect…or at least beautiful in His eyes! I will practice saying the ones that seem hard!
Hi Dawn, thanks for commenting! I think that is what is so powerful about this list. It is the total opposite of our normal or default statements we make to and about ourselves. The hard ones to say are the ones that reveal our inner struggles huh? Bless you dear friend.
Tears. Smiles. Knowing nods of the head. This list caused all these things and more. Thank you for the reminder – especially today I needed to read this. But (no, not a fighting but, but an adding but LOL) one of my favorites was left off. God sings over me with joy (love that verse in Zephaniah) 🙂
Yes, don’t you just love the picture of Him singing over us? wow, love that so much! Thanks for the reminder Toni!
Susie
Most of these were hard for me. I am pinning and printing so that I can continue to practice! 🙂
They are hard for lots of us. I am glad it spoke to you! Susie
Love this! I am printing this morning and taping to my desk so I can read a few every time the enemy tries to tell me otherwise. 🙂
Oh Susan, that is a great idea! The lies never stop, so this will give you a weapon against them. Thanks for commenting!
Susie
Susie;
These are good statements for all of us to think on. I didn’t add anything to any of them. Blessings on you for sharing this.
Thank you for that blessing dear Cecelia.
In reading through the list, I’m reminded of a thought in Nadia Bolz-Weber’s blog. She was talking with a group about their sense of God, and shared the thought of one man who said, ““I don’t know about you, but my God is crazy about me”.” You brought that back to mind.
I find the quote from Nadia a bit strange, as did Nadia. As do your sentences. That’s OK — the “strange” bit is about me, not your sentences.
Blessings and Bear hugs!
Yes Rob, I would agree that these sentences are strange in that they go against our normal thought processes and the teachings many of us have grown up around. Thanks for coming by and commenting, I love to hear your viewpoints. Susie
Yes, I wanted to “but” a few of them. Why is that truth so hard to accept in our hearts? It’s like our head can get it but our emotions– heart–soul— just doesn’t always feel worthy. Thanks for this lovely devotion.
Very true Julie. Seems like we are always battling between our head and our heart. We can KNOW something, but need to hear it again and again in order for our heart to catch up with the truth.
Susie
Why is it so hard to believe the good messages, and so easy to grab the bad ones? Such a great list, Susie! I loved this one: He cannot take His eyes off me. Awesome 🙂
Thanks for coming by Susan. Really good question huh? If we spoke as rudely to others as we do to ourselves, we’d be called bullies. Thanks for commenting a super thanks for the tweet you just sent out about this post!! Love it!
Susie