A friend of mine and I were talking with each other not too long ago. We were catching up after not having seen each other in quite a while. As we met, we talked about our families, our ambitions and the various projects God has us working on in our lives. I love talking to this friend due to the fact she is so creative and filled with a wonder about God that really inspires me.
At the end of our time together we prayed for each other. As she was praying for me she got a word for me. The word she heard AND SAW was dignity. Yes, she actually saw what this word meant for me. Like so many of the words that come from God what she was trying to communicate was so hard to put into words. I was deeply blessed by her speaking this out into my life and couldn't wait to dig in a bit deeper into what this word might mean in my journey with God on this victor living process.
Some time later I sat down and did a little study on the word dignity. Like I often do, I started with looking up the word in the dictionary. Here's several definitions to this interesting word.
Dignity can point to the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. It can also point out a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect. Dignity can also be used to describe a high or honorable rank or position. And, finally, dignity can highlight a composed or serious manner or style.
Isn't it interesting how a word that we use all the time can take on such complexity when we take a closer look at what it means? In addition to the definitions of the word dignity, I found that our English word has its origins in a Latin word that means "worthy." When I saw that, the word dignity really got me intrigued.
You see feeling worthy is something I struggle with. I have spent vasts amount of my time doing things to try and overcome the feeling deep down inside that I am not worthy. The more blessings that I helped to make come my way the greater I felt the pangs of worthlessness in my life. It was like those kids toys that lock your fingers together. The harder you pull the tighter the trap becomes. That's how I felt about the success I sought to find hoping to try and overcome the feelings of not being worthy. The more success I attained, the less worthy I felt.
If you have been listening to these presentations for a while, I hope you are beginning to recognize the characteristics of what I just described as being stuck in victim thinking. Even success can act like failure when it comes to the process of moving from victim thinking to victor living. Not even all the success in the world can ever be enough when victim thinking makes it possible to let issues like worth, love-ability, acceptance, and significance are concerned.
I think that is why my friend's word on dignity was so perfectly designed for me. My victor status is so fragile when it comes to the issue of worth simply because I find it hard to believe that I would ever be worthy of the kind of love God shows me.
Each and every one of the definitions for dignity I stated earlier have one flaw when it comes to breaking the victim thinking ways that have haunted me over the issue of worth. They all read like it is completely up to me to live up to those definitions. I have failed to live up to those lofty statements in the past and will fail to do so in the future. For that reason, victim thinking lurks around every corner if I let the world's definition of dignity be what underpins my victor status.
The next thing I did with this word dignity was to search out the Biblical conversations on the Web surrounding the word dignity. You have to be careful about what you read on the Internet when it comes to Biblical issues but this has turned out to be a great tool for those of us trying to understand more about this relationship with God. What I found is so conformation when it comes to these talks on our victor status.
You see, dignity from the Biblical standpoint is reserved for one person - God Himself. Those who have studied the Bible stated that, when it comes to dignity, only God is worthy of this word that means to be worthy. No wonder I have found so much strife as I tried to earn this title. I can't earn it! I will never do enough to be seen as worthy in the eyes of those around me let alone in the eyes of this God that made me. If the story ended there, victim thinking would be the only choice for us all to pursue. Thank God that isn't the end of the story.
The Bible is all about worth. The Bible was never there to give us the strength and perseverance to find worth on our own. The Bible was created to teach us that worth only comes from God. Dignity isn't something that is found or created by our own efforts - it is given as a gift from the one who can never be anything other than worthy. God is the epitome of dignity. We are created in His image so dignity is a natural part of our lives.
It is when we put our focus on the world, and what we can do in this world, to try and live up to that image of dignity that is placed inside of us that trouble begins. Dignity, worth, love-ability, significance is ours because God loves us. When we try and do things to prove those characteristics in our life it is as though the gift is removed. The harder we work to find it the more distant it gets in our lives.
I don't for a moment believe God is moving the goal. It is more like the fact that the more we try and earn it, the more dim what it is we are after really looks like. When we just believe what God says about us and accept the fact that dignity, worth, love and significance is ours because God says so, life just seems to work in ways that we can't force no matter how much we try.
Today's Bible reading is a really crazy one. Take a look at it with me now.
Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. Ecclesiastes 10:6 (NIV)
The word in the original language for "high positions" is translated as "dignity." Fools have dignity when dignity is earned through self effort. Sad thing is that that kind of dignity is never enough for the fools, like me, that use our own efforts to gain that dignity.
This isn't a knock on going after as much power, position and prominence as you can in this world. I happen to believe that God loves to see His children succeed in spiritual as well as worldly ways. What I think today's reading, and my friend's word on dignity is all about is that we are to allow God's dignity be all we will ever need to live this life the victor He has made us to be.
What kind of dignity are you going to go after today? Are you going to join the ranks of fools and settle for a dignity that is self earned? If so, I hope you wake up to the fact that that kind of dignity will never satisfy the longing deep down in your soul that drives you to pursue this wordy fix to an eternal problem. God is the only one that can ever be consider worthy or dignified. Why not let Him be the one to speak that worth and dignity into your life? That's what He longs to do. Let the fact that you are His Child, created in His own image, be what opens the door to dignity in your life today.
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