Far back as I can remember, a quiet question haunted me: Am I enough? Do I have value to God?
For most of my life, I answered that question for God. I condemned myself, knowing every weakness, every failure, every thought I thought unworthy. I sentenced myself to guilt, shame, and self-hatred.
For 45 years, I believed I wasn’t of God because I wasn’t perfect. My life wasn’t perfect, so God couldn’t possibly be in it. I lived alone in that fire—the fire of self-pity and shame. I hated the person staring back at me in the mirror. He failed me. He let his family down, society down, himself down. He couldn’t fit the mold, couldn’t be what the world said he should be.
What I didn’t understand was that every experience, every trial, every moment of pain was meant for me. Each one was shaping me, teaching me, preparing me—not to destroy me, but to give me the tools to understand others. To know their pain. To create a deep, unshakable purpose.
God wasn’t absent from my life. He wasn’t punishing me. God loved me so deeply that He allowed me to feel the weight of this world’s pain—not to crush me, but so I could walk beside others in their suffering. What a gift it is to sit with someone in their darkest moments, to truly know their pain, and to offer them even a fleeting moment of comfort.
I’ve learned this: If you see your trials as punishment, you’ll miss the lesson. You’ll miss the blessing of God.
You were never meant to face life alone. God has prepared others to walk with you, to help you understand the pain that others inflicted on you so it doesn’t consume you. Their cruelty doesn’t define your worth. Their voice doesn’t belong in your head. Their hate, their actions, and their lies don’t get to dictate how you see yourself.
Your value is innate. Your worth cannot be taken.
No matter what’s been done to you, no matter what lies you’ve believed, your worth comes from God. It is woven into your very being, your DNA, and it cannot be destroyed by anyone—not by their words, not by their actions, and not by your own mistakes.
You have a purpose. You have a reason for being here. It’s not found by trying to be someone else. You are the magic your life has been missing. When you accept what God created—imperfections and all—you’ll realize you were never meant to be perfect. You were meant to be you.
Your imperfections are part of the plan. They aren’t flaws; they are tools. Tools that allow you to bring healing, connection, and understanding to a world desperately in need.
So, know your worth. Embrace your value. Let go of the shame, the guilt, and the lies. You are enough. You always have been.