My main struggle? Finding and understanding my worth in Christ, and not in the world. No matter how
many times the students and the leaders shared encouraging words with me, I still believed the insecurities I had
made growing up. The only way I was able to accept that: I am beautiful, I am smart, and I am a blessing to others
was if God Himself, spoke those words to me. This leads me to also note that this experience taught me to recognize
God’s voice. See, we may believe that we are ugly, stupid, or have no value, but that is far from the truth!! If we ever
think of words that can destroy us or others around us, no matter how reasonable they may seem at the moment,
they are only from the enemy, and the enemy speaks only lies. Holding onto these lies only kept me from letting God
use me to the fullest. I wasn’t able to obey the Holy Spirit when He put something on my heart, and that held me
back from so many opportunities. God, on the other hand, sees complete potential and value in us, and He said so in
His word that He is not a god who lies!
34