a woman's worth

I think as women the most common way that Satan attacks us is by attacking our self worth. Maybe this is the same for men but I'm not one so I don't know. It breaks my heart to see this happening to so many of the amazing women I know. Satan loves to plant doubts and questions into our minds (and too often they get incorporated into our hearts and into the view we have of ourselves): Am I a good enough friend? daughter? sister? coworker? student? girlfriend? wife? mom? Christian? AM I GOOD ENOUGH? As I was meditating on this issue, it brought to mind a passage from Sex God by Rob Bell that speaks so much truth about our worth and value -- which comes completely from Christ and not from ourselves:

"Do you realize?

You don’t need a man by your side to validate you as a woman. You already are loved and valued. You’re good enough exactly as you are. Do you believe this? Because it’s true. You have limitless worth and value. If you embrace this truth, it will affect every area of life... YOU ARE WORTH DYING FOR. Your worth does not come from your body, your mind, your work, what you produce, what you put out, how much money you make...You have inestimable worth that comes from your creator. You will continue to be tempted in a thousand different ways to not believe this. The temptation will be to go searching for your worth and validity from places other than your creator. Especially from men.[Tara's note: or I would argue from other people in general] ...You are already loved. Your strength is a beautiful thing. And when you carry yourself with honor and dignity that are yours, it forces the men around you to relate to you on more than just a flesh level. YOU ARE WORTH DYING FOR."

This passage speaks more specifically about male-female relationships but it's truths apply universally. Yes, as women we often look for validation from men, but we also look for validation from other women and unfortunately women can be some of the harshest critics of other women. What hurts my heart most is that we as Christians are often responsible for bringing down others instead of building them up. Maybe it's our own internalized self-worth questions and strive for perfection that we impart on others, but it is Christ's heart that we would see each other (and ourselves!) through Him -- as invaluable and worth dying for -- and act accordingly, by living in a way that reflects and honors that value in both ourselves and others.