At the end of the day the only person that defines you is
the One who created you. It doesn’t matter what people think of you. It doesn’t
matter what people say of you. It doesn’t matter who is gossiping about you and
what they’re saying. None of that defines who you are, none of that dictates
the way that God sees you, and the way He sees you is all that matters.

As much as I love to walk into a room full of strangers and
leave with a room full of friends, that doesn’t dictate who I am as a person.
God has the ability to use that strength in my life in numerous ways, that’s
why He placed that quality in me. He doesn’t desire for it to be used against
me or to hold me in bondage in any way, but I have to be the one who is
intentional about how I allow it to be used in my life. If someone decides that
they don’t like me, I’ll be okay with that. If someone decides that they want
to talk about me in hurtful ways, I’ll be okay with that. If someone accuses me
of things that I know I am not doing, I’ll be okay with that. Why? Because God
likes me, in fact He loves me. God talks about me as one of His most treasured
possessions, and that’s what defines me. God knows my heart, and He knows what
is true and what is untrue and that is all that matters.

At some point I said, “Enough is enough,” and then I acted
on what I said. Something was brought to my attention within days after making
that decision (don’t you love how the enemy does that?), and immediately I felt
the sting of hurt, but I didn’t rest in that. I remembered what I said just a
few days earlier, and I said “It doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t matter what
they think, say, or do, God knows my heart and He alone defines me.” And the
peace and freedom of God overwhelmed in that moment. I realized, I may not be
perfect but I am one step closer to overcoming the thought that it matters what
people think about me. Each day that I make the conscious decision not to dwell
on what others think of me, is the day I am closer to overcoming the need for
others to like me.

Why am I sharing this story with you? Well, that’s a good
question, because honestly it was the last thing I wanted to sit down and write
about today. Nonetheless, I am sharing this with you because I know that there
are a lot of you that hate feeling the same way I did. You hate walking into a
room and wondering if they were just talking about you. You hate the glares
that you get as they gossip about you in the hallway. You’re just tired of being
hurt. Just like you read in part one of this blog, you have to say enough is
enough. Once you say enough is enough, you make the necessary steps to act on
that. 

You don’t have to worry about what they think of you, or
what they say about you, at the end of the day God knows your heart and only He
defines you. At the end of this life, you will stand before God and when He
looks at you, He won’t say “This person said this about you,” or “This person
thinks this of you.” He will look at you and your heart and He alone will be
what defines you.

So pick up your head, move forward one step at a time, and
wrap yourself in the hands of your Heavenly Father – His opinion is the only
one that matters. Seek Him with all of your heart; seek to do His will and what
He has called you to do. Seek to serve Him and live your life for Him. No one’s
hurtful words can stand against you, when your heart is in the right place only
what your Heavenly Father says about you matters, you’ve already won Him over.