Girl, next time you post a photo of yourself doing something fun — playing at the beach, eating dinner with girlfriends, snuggling with your younger sibling, be ready.
There is always someone out there who does not want your good.
There are some people who are not your people. Yes, there are girls (and boys, alike) who will call themselves your friends in the hallways but who choose to whisper crude and vicious names for you, covering their own mouth and the listener’s ear with a cupped hand, attempting to hide their words. But the words, spilled out all over, spoken quietly from one person to the next, travel quickly and get exaggerated, like messages in an elementary game of “Telephone.”
And those kinds of words, the crude and vicious names — they hurt.
Even when someone justifies, “Well, it’s true.”
Listen, Lovely. Only people who completely love you know what is true about you.
Did you hear that? I called you Lovely.
Your birth name or your adopted name might be Brooke or Elizabeth or Jane. But keep this in mind, and train yourself to hear Your Maker’s voice as He whispers your name into your ear. Your Creator has always called you Lovely. From your very beginning, you were beautifully crafted and uniquely made.
But I am sure you have been called other names that eat away at your joy and crush your spirit.
Fat.
Flaky.
Weakling.
Beanpole.
Ugly.
Hoe.
Nerd.
Loser.
Idiot.
Have you ever wondered: Why do I hear these names repeat themselves to me more often than Lovely, especially when I look in the mirror? [Read more…] about Listen, Lovely. Can You Hear Your Name?