In her book, A Princess Broken, Misty Gatlin takes us on a journey of a girl who feels her life is broken beyond repair. I'm so excited to have her share with you the vision and heart behind her writing. >>>
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| Crown // Etsy.com |
In themain character defines herself as broken and damaged because of the decisions she had made over the years. If I were to ask you, "What defines you as a person?" what would you say? Would you be defined by who your parents are or the grades you make or poor choices you’ve made in life?
None of these things should be the definition of who you are. Before you were born, God spent time knitting you together in your mother’s womb. He already knew who you would be before your body was even in existence. He knitted special attributes and characteristics within your being because He wanted to make sure you were equipped to fulfill the purpose for which you were created. That is who you are. The decisions you or anyone else has made doesn’t determine who you are as a person or who you will be in your future.
Everyone struggles at some point in life, and everyone makes mistakes, but never will those mistakes take your purpose away. God said that when you come to him and ask for forgiveness for a mistake you made, he throws that mistake as far from you as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). That means it is gone forever and never to be brought up again. Why are you still using that mistake to define your worth today?
I want to point out a few people who didn't allow themselves to be defined by their family's choices or their mistakes they had made in their past. Instead, they allowed God to redeem them and use them for his plan and purpose:
- Joseph - poor guy had brothers who were jealous of him and plotted to kill him and tell their dad that he was eaten by a wild animal. Instead they sold him as a slave. In the end Joseph was placed in a high position by the king, and his brothers had to come to him to beg for food.
- Moses - killed an Egyptian and later became an anointed leader who led many away from the despair placed on them by Pharaoh and into the Promised Land. God spoke often to him, and he is one of the most well-known leaders in the bible.
- Rahab - a prostitute who went against her people to help Joshua and other followers of God take over her city. God spared her and her family because of her help.
- Paul - not only hated those who believed in God, but he killed them. He ended up being one of the most powerful leaders probably in history. He became a Christ-follower and led thousands of people to Christ.
You are not defined by your past, and it's not too late to change the path you've been on. God wrote a story specifically for you before you were ever born, and in the story you were supposed to travel a certain path to get to your destination—your purpose. Maybe you decided to take a different path in the story that took you in the complete opposite direction, and you can no longer see your purpose.
All you have to do, though, is talk to God about it. Your purpose never changes just because you made mistakes. Don’t let that path you chose to go down be what defines who you are as a person.
Let God remind you of who you are.
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Misty is a mother, wife, teacher, writer and speaker. She loves doing what God has gifted her to do. Her writing and speaking are both transparent and relevant. Her passion is to equip teen and college age girls with the tools to get through day-to-day life by building confidence in who they are in Christ. She blogs at Mistygatlin.com
