6 truths to remind yourself of every day

Have you ever woken up stressed? Worried about the day ahead? Filled with anxious energy?

If you’re like me, your thoughts about school, work, relationships, or home caught your attention before the sunrise. It’s so easy to dwell on what we can’t control—the unknown, a dreaded conversation, or an illness.

Before you start your day, it’s essential to remind yourself of truth. We can often experience wave-like emotions, sometimes soothing and calm, other times, a choppy and dark sea. Truth acts like an anchor and enables us to not be tossed about by our emotions.

Whether I’m feeling restless or excited, I aim to remind myself of these six truths every day:

1. God is the creator

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

When we remind ourselves that God created everything, we can trust that, as the author of life, he knows what’s going to happen today, tomorrow, and ten years from now. He’s got this situation under control because he wrote the whole story.

2. God created you too

Sometimes I struggle with thoughts of not being “enough.” Not smart enough, talented enough, pretty enough… even my hair gets the “you’re not shiny enough” talk. To fight off these lies, I went to God’s Word for truth. Want to know what he said?

Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in his own image, he created him in the image of God, he created them male and female.”

John Piper says, “God created us in his image so that we would display or reflect or communicate who he is, how great he is and what he is like… [we were] created like a mirror.”

Psalm 51:2 says God is “the perfection of beauty,” and Revelation 22:5 says that in the presence of God we’ll “need no light from lamp or sun, for the Lord will be [our] light.” God’s brightness and beauty surpass that of the prettiest sunrise. So we get to bear the image of the loveliest being ever—so cool.

3. Everyone messes up

One of the worst feelings in the world is knowing that you’ve messed up big time. These times feel like a lightning strike: a bright flash, making your actions as clear as day. Sometimes we process our sin right away, apologizing and moving on quickly. Other times, we sit in our funk; we replay the sin over in our head until we’re consumed with shame, guilt, and embarrassment.

It’s normal to be less than thrilled about bad behaviour (yours or someone else’s), but we also need to remember that EVERYONE messes up! Your best friend, your neighbour, your mom, your dad, the delivery man—they aren’t perfect, and neither are you. You will mess up and so will they.

4. God loves you

When we’re really feeling low, discouraged, and disheartened by our past or current actions, we slip into thoughts of, “Well they don’t like me, so maybe God doesn’t either,” or, “How could God love me after I’ve done this?”

Romans 5:8 says, “And God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

God chose to love us, despite our messes, despite our rejection of him, despite the way we hurt others. Christ died for you to know God’s love.

5. Trust that God forgives you

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Did you hear that? When we say sorry for what we’ve done, thought, or said, we can trust that God hears us and removes that sin from us. Like we hinted at before, we all deal with feelings of being “dirty” from all of our sin. But we can see here that Jesus takes on our confession like a pasta sauce stain: he washes us free from our yuckiness, and makes sure that we are sauce-free.

6. Your purpose on this earth isn’t about fulfilling your desires, but worshipping God

One thing is for sure: with social media, Netflix, and just about all the data we can imagine, distractions are endless, and they have a sneaky way of helping us forget our main objective. We may fill ourselves with entertainment, succumb to comparing ourselves to others, or feel overwhelmed with worry.

Matthew 6:33 reads, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Jesus wraps up his sermon by teaching us to seek God first and know that God will take care of us. That means that reading the Bible, praying, attending church, giving generously, sharing the gospel, and looking for ways to love others should be our focus on earth. While there’s a time to relax and enjoy entertainment, God wants us to remain focused on advancing his kingdom. He wants us to know, deep down, that when we choose God above all else, we choose a path filled with love, hope, and purpose.

Each day we face different events, circumstances and decisions. Take heart and remind yourself of who you are and what really matters in life. Know truth and let it be your guide in the days ahead. I strongly encourage you to spend time each morning reviewing the gospel, and reminding what God has to say in the Bible!