What are the voices in your head telling you? You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that you hear in the quiet moments when you’re alone. The ones that put a negative spin on a conversation you just had and have you believing the worst case scenario is about to go down and that person is about to completely write you off as a friend and (even worse than that) unfriend you on facbook. Gasp!

What do you hear when the voices talk to you? Is it something along these lines?

“You’re not as good as these people you’re with and they’re going to find out soon enough. One day they will see the real you, the one you keep hidden, and then they will be done with you.

You can never please God. Your past is just too bad and you’ve used up all your second chances. You are beyond saving.

You can please God after all, if you only add one more Bible study or mission activity, if you only read your Bible or pray more.

You’re not where you need to be. You should have been married by now or you should have kids by now or you should be living in the nicer suburbs by now or you should have a cushy office job by now. You’re not a success. You’re a failure.”

On and on the voices go, relentlessly repeating the same messages over and over again. All lies, but even so, it’s hard to dismiss the voice that sounds so much like your own. How?

Listen to the one voice that trumps all the others. The Voice of Truth (as one song puts it). The voice of God. He says this about you.

“You matter to me. You matter enough that I died for you and shed all my blood for you.

You are not a mistake or an accident. I made you with a purpose and I intend to do great things in and through you.

You are my beloved. My love for you is unconditional and complete and forever. You couldn’t earn it and you can’t lose it.  Whether you feel it or not, it’s there.

Who you are and where you are in life don’t define you as a success or failure. You are My child and that defines you. My plans for you are unique to you and can’t be compared to anyone else’s.

I am very fond of you and I won’t stop healing and restoring and rebuilding you until you look exactly like My Son Jesus. That’s a promise!”

I don’t know about you, but I know the Voice that I want to listen to from now on.