Whitnee's journey with Christ

Here is an insert from my interview with Rico.

W: When you were younger who did you want to look like? 

R: Method Man

W: Why Method Man?

R: Because of his ruggedness.

W: Was there anyone else that you wanted to be like or look like:

R: Nas

W: At what age did you no longer wish to be like Method Man or Nas? 

R: 16

W: Why the change of heart?

R: Cause that is when I knew who I am.

W: At the age of 38, who do you want to be or look like?

R: I just wanna be me. 

W: And who are you? 

R: The person who I always wanted to be: a great man. 

W: Thank you Rico I have no further questions. It has been a pleasure speaking with you today. 

End of report. 

Normally I start my devotionals with a self reflection but for today’s message I thought it would be fitting to get a man’s perspective. And in lieu of Father’s Day, I dedicate this message to my beloved rock. (HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL OF THE FATHERS OUT THERE). Today with God’s grace I want to briefly shed some light on man’s self image verses God’s view of us. It is my purpose to use a situation that Gideon was in, in the book of Judges as an illustration on how having a negative self image can set us up for failure and can lead to self destruction.

In the 6th chapter of Judges it talks about Israel verses the Midianites. Going to verses 11 through 40 it talks about a man by the name of Gideon. The context from today’s message will be coming from verses 12 to 16. Verse 12 which is the Scripture of the day shows God’s view of Gideon. If you skip down to verse 15, you will see Gideon’s view of himself. It reads: So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

God saw Gideon as a man of valor and Gideon viewed himself as weak and obviously one who could be defeated.

Like Gideon, when Rico was a little boy he didn’t the value of who he was but when he turned 16 he began to understand the power of God’s creation (himself) and at the age of 38, he is walking in His purpose and being as he describes “a great man.”

From the moment I met Rico I knew he had a story to tell. Don’t we all? The boy I met is the same man I grew to love (flaws and all) and he always had a swag about himself I found so attractive, a certain cockiness I couldn’t stand, the strength of a lion, but the heart of gold followed by a humble spirit. He was always sure of who he was and confident so when we did the interview I was amazed that when he was younger he wanted to be like someone else. Could have fooled me!

In May of 2019 Rico was involved in a very bad accident that scared him mentally and psychologically. When he looked in the mirror he didn’t recognize himself. It was hurtful and hard to see my husband view himself differently. He saw himself in a different space like the person in the mirror was a stranger. Here we are in 2022 and at times I wonder if traces of that stranger still exist within his mind.

So here we have two different men from two different walks of life who view themselves apart from how God sees them.

Can you relate to Gideon or Rico? How has your self image stopped you from being the person God says you are. (Look back at this past Fridays message entitled I Am Who I Say I Am).

Let’s bring this puppy home. Time to get into the meat of the message.

As we all may need that pat on the back or that boost of confidence, God is telling us like He told Gideon in Judges 6:14, we are strong because He gave us strength. He didn’t create a wimp, He created warriors. Verse 16 says: And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

We can be our worst critics! It can really hinder what God wants to do through us. We find ourselves unworthy when God says you are good enough. We find ourselves guilty and full of shame when God has forgiven us. We find ourselves hideous or unattractive when God said we are His masterpiece.

My brothers and sisters we are blessed. We are God’s chosen. We are His beloved children. We are mighty in Christ and He is in us and gives us power and strength. The Bible says I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. We can’t do nothing on our own.

So if have God in our hearts like we claim we do we have to stop doubting His creation (ourselves). We have to stop thinking we are less than. We have to build ourselves up and rise up to be who God created us to be.

Friends when you staring back at the mirror what are you saying? From reading today’s message what will you say?

To my brothers you are strong and courageous. You are leaders and the head of your household. You are our protectors, our help mates, you are watchful, you stand firm in your faith, you seek God’s counsel. You show integrity, honor, dignity, and good works. You submit yourselves to your wives as your wives submit to you. You are humble. You are skillful. You are talented. You are creative. You were created in God’s own image. These affirmations need to replace any negative thoughts you had. Key word HAD! It’s in the past but when you know better, you do better!

I pray like Rico we will all be confident in the person God created us to be. I pray all men know their worth, value, and the need to have them in the home especially to help raise our children.

May this message inspire you to replace words like weak for strong, ugly for beautiful, dumb with smart, mistake with lessons, and the list goes on. God is looking at you in the mirror, what words can He use to describe you?