What You Give Away, He Will Surely Take!

{for you: free graphic}

Goods, check! Identity, got it! Self-worth, in the bag! Character, bet! He has accomplished another feat on his checklist, fulfilling himself, destroying your dignity, and moving on to the next. See, he was looking for you and you fit the bill perfectly. You were his homework, midterm, and final. His notes on you were meticulous, though at times, it wasn’t hard to see what you were about. Like looking up into the night sky to gaze at the stars, he discovered you. You walked with the superficial display of “strong woman” …but you turned at every eye that caught yours (craves attention). Your fresh knits clothed the inward beat downs you gave yourself time and time again (low self-esteem). Shoe game was nothing but the best. Hair was always laid by the best, you drove the best, you put your best foot forward… in your world, nothing but the best, right? And yet you gave yourself away like a discounted item on the shelf waiting to be picked up. He caught you up with the slickest, most perfect lines…you know the ones…those that caused you to melt like butter oozing down a hot surface. He caught you up in his web because he knew he could. Laughing on the inside, on the outside he showered you with constant gratification. Before you ever realized what happened to you, you were sold…to the lowest bidder. After playtime was over with you, he left you by the wayside picking up the pieces to your broken life. You were left inwardly bruised, tattered, and shattered. You moved on wondering how you ever ended up in a situation like that…well, honey, it’s not like you made it hard for him to get you!

I wrote this in my journal some years ago. I was highly disgusted with my actions. But what was funny though, was even then, I could see that something was wrong. Yet, it took many more years to finally come to my senses. Ladies, please hear me out. It doesn’t matter how you portray yourself, the truth of your actions will ALWAYS tell on you. Your/our/my actions have a tendency of revealing the real us. Kind of like that junk drawer we all have. If that drawer keeps getting stuffed with junk, little by little, it’ll start bulge until it can’t close anymore. Then the contents are exposed.

There is no amount of make-up, vernacular, clothing, or anything external that will cover up the turmoil internally. If you never learn who you are, you will continue to get used up, abused, and broken. Try God at His word. He says we are His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). He said He is close to the brokenhearted and rescues those whose spirits are crushed (Psalm 34:18). He is a restorer (2 Corinthians 5:17). The beautiful thing about God is when we bring our broken, messy selves to Him, He will renew us and make us complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). We won’t need validation from men, sex, relationships, status, or any of that stuff.

What have you sacrificed in exchange for attention, love, respect, etc.? Well, it’s time to reclaim all of that sister…because your value is priceless! Blessings!