By Anonymous

Your worth is not defined by how others ridicule your faith.

Your worth is defined by the beauty of your soul; the strength of your faith.

Relationships are touchy subjects, especially when looking back and debriefing your mistakes to yourself and others. I am going to try my best to be completely transparent about this story, since I believe it has an important message.

My last relationship seemed great at the time. The guy made me feel worth, he was a good guy, he made me laugh, and we always had something to talk about. But something was missing, the most vital part of a healthy relationship. My faith in God was there, his wasn’t; every time I mentioned it, I could feel him judging me.

Eventually this (and other factors) became too evident, and I realized that with such different beliefs, we couldn’t have a healthy relationship. I needed someone who I could talk openly about my faith with, someone who would understand, and not judge me for it.

Long story short, we talked about it and broke things off peacefully with no hard feelings.

Shortly afterwards I moved, we still talked and were really good friends, we still are.

However, a situation came up this past week where my first reaction was to ask for his advice (I had begun receiving some semi-creepy messages over the internet from another guy, and no matter how much I ignored them they kept coming). I went to seek out advice from my ex about how to get the point firmly across that I didn’t want this guy contacting me anymore. And this is what he said:

“If you want him to ignore you, just talk to him about how much you love Jesus.”

My heart stopped.

Those were the most hurtful words I could have heard.

Even more hurtful was the fact they were coming from someone who I used to have a strong relationship with, who I trusted.

How could I have been so dumb to have wasted time with him? Why would he say that? Was he trying to evoke some sort of harsh reaction? All sorts of thoughts started flooding my mind at that moment, all encompassed by an underlying anger.

I soon realized I had to halt these thoughts. This situation was not worth the strong emotions taking over my mind. I did not reply.

After calming down I realized that what has been said is irreversible. He meant what he said, but that does not mean it has to mean anything to me. Sure it was hurtful, but the hurt would win if I let it get to me.

Its easy to let the opinions of those close to you get to you, it takes true strength to realize you have no control over these words, only how you react. It’s important to realize too, that this is the kind of strength you get from softening your heart, not hardening it as the world recommends.

Every situation you’ve been put in happens for a reason, we look back on our lives and see how all the broken pieces and harsh words mesh beautifully together with our dreams, hopes, joys, and the perfect image we were created in, to make the beautiful portraits we are today.

“For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.” (1 Corinthians 14:33)

We are all broken, and we are all beautiful.

Know your worth. Stay courageous. Stay strong.