Fearless Self-Image, Fearless Identity

As a young girl I was sexually abused. You may not be able to relate to my exact circumstances, friend, but I know you can relate to what that damage did to my self- image, identity and sense of value. So, as I share some of my story and journey, please try to relate. The lack of worth or value I felt from the abuse I experienced left me hungry for love, and desperate for attention, approval, validation and significance. Everywhere I went in search of worth and value crashed and burned around me. My life was one train wreck after another . . . because my identity had been stolen.

THE RESCUE

That hunger and desperation first drove me to many unhealthy places. I sought to build an outward appearance of beauty and perfection. I felt that if I could just achieve . . . just obtain . . . just accomplish . . . then I would be valuable and significant and I would be who I desperately wanted to be – valuable. God rescued me; and it wasn’t an event, it was a process, a long process of growth, healing, and restoration! Today I am not just a survivor, I am an overcomer of sexual abuse and dysfunction. What does that mean? The damage of my past no longer defines me nor shapes my identity and self-image. God does. I no longer seek approval and validation through my “outsides” – my success, my beauty, my body, my achievements, or validation from other people. God makes all things new. Now I know my value and true identity in Him.