You're Really Important to God - Your Differences Matter

I know I’m not the only one that has ever felt less than or not as great in what I do or that I don’t matter. And that’s why I am doing this episode today.

Yet another perfect moment of God telling me what I should talk about while driving home today. And it all came about on a verse I had read earlier in the day that really hit me.

1 Corinthians 12:14-22, “Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary.”

I read it and started thinking about how so many of us need to hear this and understand why it’s bad to exclude others and how important each one of us is to God and to the community & activities He put us in.

We REALLY matter. We just need to believe this truth & trust that no matter how low we feel when measured up to others, who we are and what we do matters to the One that matters most.

Let me tell you how this is true.

Here are 5 big ways that God shows us how really important we are to Him:

1. He Created Us
   1. Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
2. He Blessed Us With Talents & Giftings to Share With Others
   1. 1 Corinthians 12: 7, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
3. He Sent His Son to Save Us
   1. God made the ultimate sacrifice to bind us to Him forever.
   2. 1 John 4:9-10, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love-not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
   3. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
4. He’s Always There When We Need Him
   1. Prayer is the key here. He is only a prayer away.
   2. Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.”
5. He Tells Us He Loves Us All the Time
   1. Jeremiah 31:3, “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.’”
   2. Isaiah 41:10, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

Transcript

0:03

This is the Real Positive Girl podcast and I am your host Sabrina. And today I am gonna chat with you all about how you are really important to God because here on this show we do talk about like mental health struggles, mindset struggles, how to become more vulnerable, be more honest, develop self-awareness so that we can better understand ourselves, become our best self through Christ. And so that's why specifically today we're gonna talk about you are really important to God because it is very important and integral for you to know that. And that might seem super simple, but a lot of us struggle with believing these really simple truths, uh, that if we just held those in our heart and actually believe them, then our life would be filled with so much more joy and peace and comfort by just leaning into the Lord and like having our full surrender there. So we're gonna get into that. But before I do that, I do wanna welcome anyone that is new to the show here on the Real Positive Girl Podcast. I have been doing the show for now four Seasons. It has recently shifted from being only about mental health and mindset to now having a more in depth look on how God and how we can use uh, God's knowledge, which is the Bible, to help us strengthen our minds and you know, help us get through those times where we feel like we're sitting in a pit of despair in regards to how our mental health and how our emotions are trying to control us. So if you're new here, welcome in. I hope that you really enjoy this episode and find it helpful as well as any other episodes that you decide to listen to in the archive. And if you are not new, welcome back. You know the drill. I hope that you are also enjoying all of these episodes as well. If you take a peek down into the show notes below, you will notice that you can come and say hi to me on socials. I am at Sabrina Joy Perso on both Instagram and TikTok. So please come over and say hi, follow along, like send me a dm, I'd love the chitchat with you and really build a relationship with you online. Also, there is the link for you to watch the video version of the podcast that I started creating videos for at the top of the year. And so I am slowly but surely getting videos up. So if you wanna take a peek at the ones that are currently available, the link to the YouTube channel is down there in the links, um, in the show notes below. Also, if you want to suggest a topic or you just wanna send me an email, you can find all of that and even more things down in the show notes. So take a peek when you have a chance. But let's go ahead and talk about what we are here to talk about, which is you are really important to God. So part of the reason that I was such a people pleaser growing up is because I felt like I didn't fit in, but I wanted to fit in because truly who wouldn't wanna fit in? Let's just be honest. Even if you're gonna tell me that you didn't mind, you know, being on the outside, being on the French, maybe you're an emo kid and you understand that if you were like born. In the eighties, like me, millennial kid, um, I feel like there was like an emo time where a lot of us had those like high emotions and that's the way we felt. Some people did it more than others, but you know, you can tell me that you didn't care about anyone caring about you, but I know that there is at least a little dime size amount in your heart and in your mind where you truly did want to fit in. You wanted someone to like be accepting of you and truly just invite you into like what they're doing and have that friendship. Um, and so that's kind of how I was. I took it to the most extreme level by being a people pleaser of course. And the easiest way to like fit in, you know, for me, the way that I was thinking about it ever since, like elementary school all the way through the time that I left to go to college, the easiest way to fit in is to get people to like you no matter who you are. So maybe you have some annoying traits or things that people don't particularly like or you come from a broken home that people know about or you have all this drama in your life and there's been gossip. But if you can find a way for people to like you, then you're in no matter who you are. So playing to people's egos and giving everything you got to make other people happy and ignore yourself. That's what I did ultimate, you know, gold star people pleaser and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. And you know, even the Bible tells us to put ourselves second to others. But I do wanna note that it's not to the extreme of being a people pleaser. You know, being people pleaser means that you literally are throwing yourself out the window. Not literally, sorry, like metaphorically you are not going to spend the time to really take care of yourself or honor your own needs and what you think needs to come for us for you. No, you're gonna put everyone else's stuff before you and never think about yourself. But that is not what the Bible's talking about here. Let me read to you Philippians chapter two verses three through four. It says, don't be selfish, don't try to impress others. Be humble thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. So it's just important that I wanted to bring that up because I know that there might be someone that, you know, is very versed in the Bible and be like, well, the Bible tells us to put everyone before us. But you have to understand the actual details and the nuances of that. Like it's, it's not that I'm like trying to read in between the lines and like make up what I think the Bible meant. It's like there is a balance of knowing that you know, between only caring about yourself and then only caring about other people. Um, and so people pleaser, people pleaser struggle the most with this balance because you know, even um, there are so many stories of, of the people in the Bible, they're still taking care of themselves cuz how are we supposed to be a viable vessel for God and able to carry out his will with the talents and, and, and giftings that he has given to us and shine a light in the world if we aren't at least taking care of ourselves enough to do those things. And that means, and that's just like, that's still outside of like being a people pleaser, right? That you cannot be a people pleaser and then fully want to um, give all those things to like highlight who God is and to give back to him and really, you know, align with his will. Because even part of taking care of yourself is spending time in the Bible and praying and doing those kind of things. And if you are spending all your time worrying about whatever someone else wants, you're not taking that time that is needed for you to serve the Lord in the best way that you can. You know what I mean? So anyway, I didn't mean to go off on a long tangent about that, but I wanted it to definitely be shared with you cuz it's so super important and you know, the reason, your reason might be different for why that you feel this like less than feeling like you're not uh, up to par with everyone else and all of these feelings of unworthiness and the like. And you know, it might not be because you're a people pleaser and that's totally fine. It's maybe it's because like you believed someone when they told you you were less than or you were worthless or you weren't great at something or anything. Uh, maybe it's because the expectations that you put on yourself are just way too darn high. Often we can do that or maybe it's just the crushing weight of comparison and jealousy and envy and shame that we put on ourselves for not matching up to others. Like it could be a myriad of things, it could be some of those things that I just named. But you know, whatever way you caught to those feelings of feeling like you're not worthy, nothing is good, like it doesn't really matter, it's just important to recognize that you are feeling this way, you're feeling like you don't matter, you're not bored and nothing you do is good enough and that it needs to change for the sake of a better life. You know, you can acknowledge, hey, I'm feeling this way and I need to not feel that way. And I have a feeling that the reason that you came to listen to this podcast or any other podcast or or blog post or anything that you would go to not just mine, you were seeking a way for you to not feel that way anymore. You're like, there has to be something that tells me opposite. Please let me find the knowledge and the resources that tell you opposite and I am going to be that resource for you today. Um, so I know that I'm not the only one that has ever felt less than of course I am not alone on an island in those feelings. Um, and it's tough, right? It's tough because if you allow your emotions to control you and tell you and dictate how you live your life and who you are and what's most important, you can get so bound up and like chained up in those lies that it feels so tough and you, you truly start to let those lies seep in and they somehow transform into truths. It's craziness. Um, but I know that I'm not the only one that feels this that goes through these, especially if it's like a season of life thing where you're, the season of life that you're in is maybe not as high as the last one was or one that you continually think back on. And so you get caught up in thinking that oh my gosh, I will never be like I was or I'll never be, uh, measured up to this person or whatever it is. And so that's why I really wanted to talk about this today because it's such an important topic. Also, it was yet another perfect moment of God telling me what I should talk about while I was driving home today. And it all came about on a verse that I actually had read earlier in the day that just really hit me. It just really like shook me and woke me up and I was like, oh my goodness, this is such a good verse. And I get really excited about that cuz you know, when you're looking online and you're searching for new, um, like bible study topics or just little devotionals and when you wanna like kind of switch it up a bit, you know, that's how I am. I have a couple like devotionals and I have one that I love. Absolutely. If you're interested in a really good one, um, I will try to remember to put it down in the show notes. But if you go to my Instagram and you go to my Amazon favorites, it is the Radiate by Clear Cherry Reeves, that's what it's called. And it's talking about radiating, uh, the love and the kindness and who, and radiating like Jesus's heart to everyone else and it's a beautiful devotional, but sometimes, you know, I'm just like, okay, let's see what else can we like shake it up, you know, just because it's like be written from a different perspective, someone else and, and try something else, right? And often when I look up stuff, at least where the algorithms that I'm all caught up in, I see the same scriptures all the time or I see the topics and I see the same scriptures all the time and I'm like, guys, we have so many scriptures in the Bible that could be used for these different topics. And so when I get really excited for a verse that me personally, now maybe you've heard this first and you're like, that's nothing like that one is overdone Sabrina, okay fine. But when I hear a verse and I haven't heard a lot in reference to a certain topic, I get very excited because I'm like, oh my goodness, a new verse and like maybe a different perspective but not really cuz you know it's God's word, but it's still like a different way to think about it. And I get very excited about it and that's what happened today. So here is the key verse that kind of just, you know, birthed this whole like with God also like telling me like you need to talk about this, but kind of just like was the beginnings of this episode. It is in the book of First Corinthians chapter 12, and this is verses 14 through 22. So buckle up, it's gonna be a little bit of a long one, it's gonna be great. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand, that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, I am not a part of the body because I am not an eye, would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part. Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, I don't need you. The head can't say to the feet, I don't need you. In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. I read that and I started immediately thinking about how so many of us need to hear this and understand why like this is like kind of like a two-bar thing, why it's bad to exclude others that are different from us. Like whether that's like how they look, how they act, what their upbringing was, what their knowledge base is, what their interested in, whatever, how it's so bad and terrible to exclude other people and how important it is, how incredibly important it is for each one of us. Like how, how, oh man, how important each one of us is to God and to the community and the activities that he has put us in, right? So we need to stop excluding people and just like not wanting them to be a part of our groups and our communities and who we're who we are because they're different from us, but also to understand and recognize how important we are to God and to everything that he has given us and put us in, in, in this life that he has blessed us with. Um, and I just got so excited and it was actually so amazing because here I don't have it, but I do have my Bible and I'm going to like, in this moment, I didn't necessarily plan this so I didn't like bookmark it or anything, but here we go. Galatians e, Ephesians, Philippians, oh no, ooh, ooh, ooh, I'm gonna pull up this scripture in my bible, Chris Corinthians 12 because I read the scripture, I read the scripture and I was very excited about it and I immediately started thinking about the things like, oh my gosh, this is like such a good verse to like encourage people to not, um, get so caught up in like in not liking people and excluding people for being different. And then when I was reading after I read the scripture and I got so excited about it, which by the way I was accidentally on this page, I was really like going to the next page for whatever reason. And then when I looked at this verse, um, wasn't this the one Hold on, hold on. Oh, I thought this was the one. Oh yeah, it is. Okay, sorry, <laugh>, you're, if you're just listening to the podcast and you were like never get around to like watching the video, even though it won't be out for like a while, you're probably like Sabrina, like get on with it. So sorry. Okay, so when I was reading my bible, and if you're watching the video I'll see this, I like read this scripture, I got very excited about it. And then there was this little section where if you're, look, if you have like a bible that likes to provide commentary and like key verses in the, in the midst of the book and the chapter that you're reading, um, it kinda like this like highlights. That's how I would consider it. And in my bible it says like unity and teamwork and literally it does talk about the exact verses that I just shared with you, uh, and talking about like working as a team and how like a football team isn't comprised of only quarterbacks because that would not be efficient nor would it win the game. Or like you would be missing so many positions. Like if you only had quarterbacks then who was actually going to receive the ball when you throw it like another quarterback. No, they're, they're, they're there to throw the ball even though, you know, some quarterbacks will like, you know, do a trick play and have like maybe a running back or Bobby Seber like throw the ball and they will go catch whatever. Like, we're not getting into those nuances. It's just the fact that like every, every part of the body of Christ, every different type of person that we run into, it matters. They all matter. They all, all of us need to be working together. Like that was the, that I, that's what I believe is like, the idea is that we were, we all are meant to be working together and that's why we're all given so many different giftings and talents and um, and different perspectives and ways of doing things and so that we could help each other. And it even says that in the Bible. And yet here we are continually like judging people and pushing them out and excluding them from things that are really, um, w would we really beneficial to them, you know what I mean? And so it really got me fired up because it's, it's, I feel like it's just like this natural sinful human nature for us to not like people that are different from us because it means that we have to actually make effort to understand them. We have to actually make effort, like take the effort to be like, okay, well why do you think that way? And then we also have to control our own emotions of thinking, oh my gosh, they don't agree with me. Then like, that makes me feel inferior. That makes me feel less than like I can't believe they don't feel the same. And it's like, how can you be friends and equals and balanced in that relationship if you have different perspectives, if you have different uh, needs, if you have different interests, it's, but we can, God created us so that we can, we just don't, God created us so that we can, so that we can all work together. We just don't, we just make the choice not to because we get all caught up in the lies and, and this like veil of like, like these false truths and things that get in the way of us actually understanding the word of God. And this is why it's so important for us to read our Bible every single day and to actually get this word into our heart and mind for us to have those aha moments of like, oh my gosh, God actually wants us to work together. Okay, what can I do tomorrow and every day following what, even if it's something small to actually like, you know, like try to fulfill this word of us working together as one body. You know, really asking yourself those questions. And so you can tell like, there's so many more things I can say specifically about this verse. I got so excited, so excited. And so, but it really dawned on me that you're probably like, well how does that have anything to do with, you know, us being important to God? We are important to God for several reasons, like and how he shows us, I'm gonna talk about that soon. But it pertains to this because it explicitly talks about how at the end in verse 22 that some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. So often we're walking around feeling like we are not worthy of anyone's time or we're, we're not good enough to do this, that and the other. And people like, you know, exclude us and shove us off and we think that that is actually accurate and we, we aren't worth anyone's time if people continue to push us back. But that's not true. Oftentimes the things that we have to give and provide to the world, they're just not like hearing us. And maybe they're not ready to hear, but we need to continue to say, we need to continue to do, we need to continue to offer it because eventually they will receive it and we just have to work a little bit harder. And I think it's worth it, especially if, you know, we're really working hard to be a light in the world and for people to know Jesus and give their heart to Jesus. You know, we're here to help with that reconciliation process and we can't give up and we also need to do it in a way that's very graceful and has kindness and love in it. Not like, as I've mentioned before, standing in a street corner with a bullhorn and a big to hell and being like, you are not gonna make it and it's just not the way to do it. So that's why I wanted to share that verse with you. It got me all pumped. So, you know, we really matter. Every single one of us, we absolutely matter, okay? We just need to believe this truth and trust that no matter how we feel when measured up to others, especially <laugh>, like we need to just trust that who we are and what we do matters to the one that matters most. And that's God. So let me tell you how this is true. Let me tell you how you know that you are so very, really important to God. But first my many, many, many, many, many disclaimer. So everything that I'm about to share with you is based on my own knowledge and experience and the experiences of others I'm able to share. And based on what I've read in the bible and com Bible commentary is online. And you know, if you feel like what I'm saying does not align with what you need to know and understand how important you are to God, then I do encourage you to actually seek another source. You know, go online and start searching up like, how does God love us so much? Or like, why we matter to God and things like that. Maybe you can talk to someone you trust also that could, that could be like a friend or a pastor or a spouse that could even be a therapist or a counselor. Just, you know, being completely transparent. I see a therapist every single week. It is a resource that God has blessed me with and I'm happy to use it. So, you know, you might wanna seek out something else that might better align with you in trying to go on this journey of understanding how God. And I just want you to know that just like take everything I say as my own research and any sort of mental health or mindset tips and advice that I would give amongst this, I am not a doctor or a professional, I just study it in my own free time. Okay? So here are five big ways, big giant, awesome, amazing ways that God shows us how really important we are to him. Okay? So the first one is he created us, bam, easy sauce, he created us. So in Genesis chapter one, verse 27, right at the beginning it says, so God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. You know what I like about this verse? And I didn't actually do like a complete study on it. So uh, this is based upon my own like drive and understanding of the Bible and what, like, what I'm reading is that the fact that God said like, so God created human beings in his own image and the image of God, he created them like it, it bore enough necessity for basically to say the same thing twice in just two different ways. To know for sure with like for certain no shadows of doubt that we were created in his image, we are created to be like him. And it's no wonder that God has had been like if you read the whole testament, like, you know, maybe, maybe sad, maybe disappointed that we would stray in other ways, you know, I mean they're sitting in the world so that's a temptation. Shiny things. But you know, God created us so amazing and brilliantly like, and so it's just important for us to realize that we are so important because we are here, because we're alive, we're breathing air, we're still here on this earth. And when we're no longer here and we're in heaven again, still really important. But it's really just, just knowing that he created you. He wanted you here, he wanted you here, okay? God wanted you here in the world enough that you're here. He decided to create you with a purpose in mind already ready to go, already ready to go. And all you need to do is just give your life to God, surrender everything to Him every single day. And he will just lead you and guide you if you allow him. You have faith in him, trust in him, he'll be there for you. He's absolutely amazing. So that's like the first really big reason or not reason. That's really big way that God shows us how important we are to him. He created you, you are here. The second one is that he blessed us with talents and giftings to share with others. Let me be clear when I say to share with others, he blessed us with talents and giftings to share with others. So in First Corinthians chapter 12, verse seven, you're gonna, you're gonna like this. I mean, who doesn't like it's good scripture, but like this is still within the same chapter that I was already referencing for basically like the big overall verse that we're talking about here today. Um, but this is like right before that. So, um, let's see. Yes, sorry. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse seven. It says, A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. Okay? So the first part of that is that God has given you a spiritual gift. You have a gift, okay? You just need to like really, you know, begin that relationship with God and then lean into it and ask him and pray with him and really like align and ask him to help you align with his will and do what he tells you to do. And you'll be able to work and flow through these gifts with. Also, please do not forget that the spiritual gift that you have gotten was needs to be used to help other people. Often we get so excited and we're life like, okay here, here's like a random like example I wanna give you just off the top of my head, not on my notes. Think about any time that you've received a gift, right? Like Christmas, birthday, I don't know, Valentine, whatever time, anytime you've received a gift and when you open a gift you're like, oh my gosh, I'm so excited for this gift. Usually some people aren't. And so let's just say you are excited cuz it's something that you wanted and you're like, oh my goodness, this gift, I'm so excited for it. Tell me, when you open that gift and you see that it's something that you actually wanna do, you first think like, wow, this, how is this gonna, like, are, are you list all the reasons and ways this is gonna make you happy? Or do you think about all the ways that you could use this thing to help someone else? No, we don't do the latter. We often do the former and you're probably like, well it's a gift. And I'm like, yes, I know, but God has blessed us so many things that in, in his image, we need to be giving those things back to other people to draw them in to him, him working through us, shining through us back to him. Now I could see how you're probably like, okay Sabrina, how would I do that with something that is mine to use and I wouldn't like give away? Just because it's yours to use doesn't mean that it can't bring some sort of love or joy or giving to someone else. Now let's say that it's like you get like a really nice thing for your kitchen. Maybe you wanna use that thing in your kitchen to create meals or, um, you know, make treats for, you know, kids at school, like for your kid, your kiddos at school, if you're allowed to do that. And then giving back to those kids might be a bigger blessing than you'll ever realize. Or making treats for like the homeless on the streets or for like a soup kitchen or something like that, right? Or maybe having friends over because they need friends, they need people to have community with. Maybe you're like, okay Sabrina, I got shoes. Okay great. Wear those shoes and maybe you're like, okay, in faith I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna, I'm gonna make friends, I'm going to, you know, uh, dig into really developing a community where we can talk about God, I'm going to use these shoes and I'm going to feel really like cool wearing them and have something to talk about with someone else and kind of like drive interest in a conversation and then start talking about God. Like, I don't know, like there's so many different ways to think about it. So next time you receive a gift, you might immediately think, oh my gosh, this is what I wanna do, this, that, and the other. But then it also shift over like, okay, well how can I use this gift to help other people as well? It's really important for us to figure out a way that we can give back and use our giftings to uh, bless other people. Um, but the way reeling that back in, I know they got kind of caught up in um, really asking yourself, you know, how are you really important to God? Because he gave you talents and he gave you giftings to share with others. He gave you these beautiful, amazing abilities and if you're not sharing them with keeping them like locked up in your home, in your office and whatever, then what's even the point, it's wasn't given to you just for you to enjoy. It was given to you for you to actually practice and use and then you know, provide to the world. And that's how he shows you that you're really important because he gifted you with something so amazing that you do so well and that you enjoy doing and that you can grow in doing even better over time if you dedicate your time. So he blessed us with gifts and talents to share with others as a way to show us that we are really important to him. Number three, he sent his son to save us. He sent his son to save us. So we are really important to God because, you know, God made the ultimate sacrifice to bind us to him forever by sending his sinless son down to earth, best teacher ever. And then he died on the cross for our sins because God was like, this is the only way to, you know, bring you back to me and that we can be together forever if we are giving our life to Christ. And I just don't know how. You can't get emotional thinking about like, wow, wow. God was like, you know what, despite everything that's happened, read the whole testament and the way that people are acting, I still wanna make a way for people to come back to me and like ha like not have like a barrier except for giving their life to Christ. And actually like acting in that life change, taking off the old life, putting on the new and living for God, it's amazing. It's just, it's just, it's just amazing. Every time I like really think about it, I'm like, oh my gosh. And then I also think about like, would I do that? Right? Think about it like, would you do that? Would you just give the most precious thing that you have to provide a way for someone to come back to like really ask yourself that? It's, it's just so, it's the best gift we'll ever get. Truly it is. Um, besides John three 16, which is the most common verse like quoted in regards to talking about how for God to love the world that he gave his only forgotten son, only begotten, so forgotten, only begotten son. Um, I wanted to provide you with a couple other verses that also speak on that. Uh, so again, we can have broaden our knowledge of what the Bible says about these very, really, really important events. So in First John chapter four, verses nine through 10, it says, God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a sacrifice to take away sins. Isn't that amazing? Like eternal life with God. And that is real love because the fact that like we, like we are walking around maybe like live in Latin and like we don't love God, like from the jump maybe depending upon like where our lives began and what we're involved in or maybe we did and then we stepped away or whatever the, whatever the circumstances is, it doesn't matter. God loved us so much first we were so very important to him first that he's like, I wanna make a way. So when they finally understand what's important, what they need to do and come back to me, there will be a way, there won't be the barriers of having to actually give like live sacrifices and things like that. Read the Old Testament, if you don't know what I'm talking about, he made a way, he made a bridge. It's, it's, it's, it's unfathomable Sometimes it's like, oh my gosh, he made a way, he made a way. Like I feel like we take it for granted. Let's stop doing that. Let's stop taking the fact that God sent his sinless son to earth, taught us so many things and then died on the cross so that there could be a way for us to have eternal life with him. It's incredible. So the other verse I wanted to share with you that talks about this says also second Corinthians chapter five, verse 21. It says, for God made Christ who never sinned to be the offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ never sinned. And it had to be that sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, the best gift we'll ever get. I'm telling you, and again as a gift, you're like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing for me. I'm gonna have eternal life with God. But also how can I use this gift to bless others? I'm gonna tell people about Jesus. I'm gonna be a light in the world. I'm gonna show people that despite these circumstances that I am dealing with, I'm not gonna allow my emotions to control me. And I am going to still have peace and comfort and joy in my heart even if it feels like I'm living inside of a tornado or a house burning to the ground. Because sometimes that's what life feels like. He sent his son to save us. That's how you know that you're really important to God. Number four is he's always there when we need him. He's always there when we need him. Prayer is the key is only a prayer away. And it doesn't have to be a prayer where you feel like you have to be specifically and like in a specific spot on your knees with music playing and blah blah blah. No, if the place where you need to pray is literally sitting in your car, in your driveway or at the grocery store, in the shower, washing the dishes, driving your kid to school, whatever it is, you can pray, you can talk to God. He wants that relationship with us. He wants us to connect with him. He like, I wanna be besties with God. I wanna be like, Hey God, can I just talk to you about what's going on? This really sucks. And God already knows like what we're going through. He already knows what we're thinking, but it's the trust and the faith and the dedication to him. The relationship of telling him things and not having fear of telling him things. That's what he wants. What's that relationship? Prayer is the key in the book of Psalms Chapter 46 verse when it says God is our refuge and strength always ready to help in times of trouble, always ready. Sometimes we jump the gun and we think that God isn't there because we called out and we prayed and we did everything and it doesn't feel like he's there. Feel alone. We're not alone. We just need to continue to have faith. We need to continue to press him. He's there and maybe it doesn't feel like he's there because he's doing the thing that you need to happen to help you fix your problem or get through your struggle. But it's not the way that you thought it's supposed to happen cuz he knows the better way. You know, often we think that we know the best way to solve our problems, to get through the next thing, to get to the next step. We don't, God knows the best way, you know, and God will let us like do whatever because he gave us free will. But we really need to be doing our best to align everything that we do and say be with his will and asking him what we should do and then having faith that he's going to guide us as long as we give him and surrender all control and have the flexibility to change and turn and twist and weave when he tells us to. When we're like, okay, you're going off of course a little bit, let's go this way. Or Hey, no, we're not actually going that way anymore. We're going this way. And having the flexibility to be like, okay God, wherever you want me to go, wherever you want me to go, I will go Often. We're not like that often. We're like, wait, no God, this is the plan. Like, listen, didn't you read the invitation? Didn't you listen to my prayer? I told you how to fix this. No, that's not how this goes. God's like, wait, listen, no, but I wanna help you listen, I know the right way. It kind of feels like parenting when like you tell your kid that they should do something a certain way and they're like, no mom, you don't know what you're talking about. And I'm like, but I do. I feel that God's like, but listen, I do know what the best way is. Can you just do it? And we're like, no, we know better. Okay? And he's so forgiving, unlimited grace. It's crazy. I I try to give unlimited grace. I am, I cannot, I have to ask God for forgiveness, for like snapping at people, but that's why he's God, he's amazing. So he's always there when we need him. We just need to actually have faith and believe that he will come through not just like fake surface level Christian at Christianity. Like, okay, God's gonna help me. And then like if he doesn't come through in five minutes, you're like, okay, well I guess he's not so I guess I have to do this on my own. No, no, no, no. He is always there when we need him. Okay, number five. And the last way that God shows how really important we are to him is that he tells us that he loves us all the time. All the time. If you read the Bible, if you read the Bible, you will know that God loves you. Now you might, if you, if you start reading the Old Testament right away, you, you might be like, wait, what? He sounds like an angry God. But no, it's just, you gotta read it. You gotta know the context, you gotta understand it all. You can't take the time, you gotta pray. You gotta ask God to reveal things to you. So you better understand his character, his love, his grace, his forgiveness. It's amazing. He tells us he loves us all the time. So in Jeremiah 31 verse three, it says, long ago, the Lord said to Israel, I have loved you, my people with an everlasting love, with unfailing love. I have drawn you to myself. God is acknowledging right there unfailing love, meaning it will not fail, it will not go away. It will not stop. It'll always be there. It's the unconditional love. It's amazing. It's something that we feel like we might have for someone in our life. We truly don't. Not in that, not on the God level, not on the God level. We're literally, they're doing sacrifices to God that are not him. And those kinds of things. Read the Old Testament, I'm telling you. And uh, but he's still, if people ask for forgiveness and they're actually like truly in their heart are wanting to change, you know, and like God believes crying out to him, he's there unfailing love. So it's just amazing. Like he, he loves them. He loves us. He wants to continually draw us to him. That relationship. The last verse I will share with you today is Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10, very common verse, don't be afraid for I'm with you. Don't be discouraged. For I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Now you might think, well he didn't say you loved. No, not just like straight away, but it's in the context, it's in the context of the verse. He is there for us. He is our God. He'll strengthen us. He will help us. He will hold us up because he loves us so much and he loves you so much because he's forgiven. Any sins that you have done that I have done, he will help us when we stumble, help us when we make mistakes, help us when we wander away. He'll still love us so much when we do the most egregious things, when we like forget about him and we're just like, uh, I don't think I need God. Cuz the season of life feels pretty easy even though he's the one that brought you there. So he loves us and he tells us he loves us all the time. We just have to be listening for it. We just have to be sensitive to the spirit portraying that. We just have to sit with him and, and and, and feel his love and his compassion. If we do that, then we will hear it. Then we'll know it. If we read the word, we will know it. And not just reading it. Like when we're at church reading, whatever scripture is on the, um, screen that the pastor is sharing for whatever, uh, sermon that they're doing. We have to read it in our own time. We have to understand it in our own time. We have to like, you know, dig in. There's so many free resources on the internet for a Bible study. It's incredible for read. You know, a lot of them are like, you know, crowdfunded and they want you to donate and you can if you really like it. One that I'm considering donating to is, uh, the blue letter Bible. Like Google that blue letter Bible, amazing commentaries. Yes. Find a verse and then go like click it and then like click um, like tools or something and then you can go to text commentaries and then there's these amazing commentaries. I think I'm gonna start doing like mini Bible studies using that resource on YouTube because it's absolutely amazing. And I want people to know that it's so easy to study the Bible and better understand it if you just use the free resources and take the time in life. My husband often tells me we either have time or money to spend. Those are our most, uh, our biggest resources. So you're either spending money or you spending time. Time. We need time with him. We need time with God to better know him, understand him, have that relationship with him and then we'll know how important we are to him. And then it won't matter. It should not matter what we are considered by other people cuz they don't matter cuz he's the only one that matters. Okay, well that's it, that's everything I wanted to share with you in regards to knowing that you are really important to God. You matter, your differences matter who you are. We're all meant to work together as one body. Let's try to do that the best way that we can every single day so we align with what the Bible says and what God's will is for us. So thank you so much for listening to The Real Positive Girl podcast again with me, Sabrina, please check the show notes below if you're interested in saying hi to me on socials, watching some of the YouTube uh, podcast episodes, sending me an email, any of those things or more. Um, but I hope you come back and help you share the show and I appreciate anyone that does listen, download and share the show you. It just means so much to me. Thank you so much. But until next time, have a good one and I will see y'all next time. Bye.