Series Strong Woman 15 – Use your faith and be persistent

We always think of a person who gives up easily to be considered weak, we can say that it is true. After all whoever gives up easily ends up not reaching anything because she doesn’t know how to persevere. You must chase your goals and not give up on them. Be focus and do not be distracted by obstacles that you are going to find on your path, negative answers or problems that intend to discourage you. Continue fighting and using your faith.

Many times, unexpected things happen to try to discourage you, so you have two options:

1.    Use your faith to overcome

2.   Prostrate yourself, get numb in front of the problem and surrender to that situation

Wondering “why does it always happen to me?” or “what is wrong with me”? Will not take you anywhere. These are negative voices that want you to give up, and make you fail.

Suddenly you begin to use your faith, but because you don’t see the results right away you end up looking back; at this point enters perseverance. Our faith has to be constant and not unstable, or dependent on the circumstances. In other words if everything is running smoothly, I have faith, but if things start to go wrong then my faith doesn’t exist anymore.

Sometimes, what your physical eyes see are only difficulties, but the eyes of faith give you the capacity to see the answer, the solution. Nobody is strong if not living by faith, for faith makes us overcome, conquer, and move forward. The faith that gives us assurance makes us strong, that’s why the Word of God says:

“Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:3-4.

Do you want to be a strong woman? Practice what we thought during these series. By the way, what was the post that helped you most and why?

Leave your comments about these series.

Series Strong Woman 14 – Do not take it personal

We cannot control people’s thoughts and actions, just our reactions towards them. Giving so much importance to what is thought or said about you, can harm you. Remember that what others say or think of you, do not project or define your own reality.

I do not mean that we must not listen to positive advice (even though sometimes it hurts) from the people who love us and want the best for us; we’re talking about taking everything personal, thinking in a negative way. Sometimes the person has good intention of helping but you think the opposite.

Taking things personal gives the others power that they should not have.

^·                For instance, if someone makes a comment, you already think that the person said it because she wants to attack or target you. This will make you be defensive and even can get angry with the person who wasn’t thinking about you when she made that comment.

^·                To not take it personal also means to not hurt yourself with what others say. This can help you to not react in a negative way immediately.

^·                If something happens, you can think that you are responsible in any way because, even though indirectly, you always get involved in those situations; and this is not intelligent. Sometimes people have wrong attitudes because they decided it, you are not responsible for it and you couldn’t have avoid it.

Taking everything personal shows that you are an insecure person, sensitive and consequently that makes you weak. Notice that everything begins in your mind. When you learn to think in a different way, everything begins to change. Your vision opens, your attitudes change, you look at yourself in a different way and you become a strong woman inside.

Next Friday, we will have the last article of this series, do not miss it!

Series Strong Woman 13- Be Secure and Value Yourself

I receive various emails of women who feel insecure of themselves and because of this they do not value themselves. Many even think that they deserve all the bad things that
happen to them. They are women that base their life on the lack of “luck”, in what they don’t have, in the opportunities they didn’t have, and so they think they are worthless. So they think they are poor things, worthy of pity; that they were born to suffer and have no chance of happiness of any kind. My friend if you do not value yourself, and you are unable to find your value, you will always be weak:

·      You will be a slave to other’s opinions

·      You will allow other people, even your husband or boyfriend, to treat you bad.

·      You feel inferior than other women who think they do have value

·      You will feel inadequate and ugly

·      You will always focus on your faults and stop seeing your qualities and abilities

·      You will feel incapable to realize anything.

·      You allow people to say negative things to you and you’ll accept them as if they’re true, ending up feeling sad and depressed

All this is simply because you are an insecure woman who doesn't value herself. I know very well what that is because when I was a teenager I was very insecure, mainly when it came in relation to my appearance. Either because I was very skinny, I had a lot of hair or because my eyes were enormous. They never said “whys” and this built up a mountain of negative things, such as the lack of self-love, shyness, complexes, embarrassment, and low self-esteem. You can observe that when a person doesn't love and value herself for who she is on the inside, she becomes a slave of negative feelings, she stops taking action, and she lives hiding herself to not be seeing. For example, I hated to be the center of attention, since I didn't like myself I did not want people to look at me. Being unseen was all that I wanted. All of these are interior problems that need to be solved. Many times a person thinks that she only has value if she has money, education, a husband, the perfect body, the job of her dreams, and a lot of friends. So does it mean that if you don’t have any of this, you’re not worth anything? A thousand times no!

So how do we solve this matter? Through your faith and determination. When you change the way you see yourself. When you realize that you are worth more than what have. When you begin to love and respect yourself as you do with others, then your problem will be solved. And never again you will let anyone mistreat you. Never again will you believe in negative words directed to you. Never again will you see yourself with bad eyes. Never again will you value more what's on the outside than the person that you are. Never again will you hate to have been born a woman. Use your faith and remove all of these destructive things that have been destroying your mind and your interior; then you will become a strong woman.

If this helped you leave your comment and share it.

Series Strong woman 12 - Be organized and disciplined

Dear to my change of country, I had not been able to write for the blog, I was organizing my stuff, lol and that is what we will talk about in today's theme.

Do you know someone wrapped, disorganized, and that all that she starts cannot finish? Well, it looks like a silly topic that has nothing to do with the subject of a strong woman, but the truth is that an undisciplined woman becomes weak. It begins by being disorganized in her spiritual life: she do not read the Bible because she never has time, she doesn’t pray, is always late in church meetings, finally does not make time for God, she’s not responsible for her life with God.

The daily routine is one mad rush, so many things to do, that fight against the clock, a huge schedule to meet; but where's the agenda? Where is the planning? Is there an order for the different tasks? Or do you stop what you're doing, start something else, and not finish either of them? The lack of discipline and organization entails several negative emotions like despair, frustration, anger, impatience, and depending on the degree it even entails aggression. Don’t you think that all of these cause weakness? What do you think? I'm sure that no woman living a situation like this feels strong.

So let’s see a solution to end so much clutter!

Divide the week, the month and the year on small goals. Determine priorities, do what is most important and urgent first. You gain confidence by improving your efficiency and your self-esteem as well. As you reach intermediate goals, you’ll realize that it is not impossible to achieve your goals. You will see that you can and will have amazing results and great satisfaction at the end of the day.

Notice how the Kingdom of God is organized and disciplined. Be available in organizing your life, your everyday, and you’ll see that you will have time even to do whatever you thought you could never do it.

This will make you a stronger and more confident woman with a more positive attitude.

Try it and see!

Series Strong Woman 11 – Be confident

            Here is the motive of the weakness of many women: they are not confident. They trust God, they even trust other people, but never themselves. They feel incapable, insecure, they think they cannot do anything by themselves so they depend on others. Being confident is fundamental for someone who wants to become stronger. It helps you to keep control of your emotions so that you don’t despair. How do you expect to be strong if you are filed of doubts and fear? You always have negative thoughts like: I cannot, I’m not able to, it’s too much for me, etc. you don’t even try and the multitude of negative words stand in front of you. Being confident is for you to believe that you are able to, that you can make it happen, that God is in control, and you can do it all by faith.

            So start working in your confidence today:

·      Do not compare yourself with others. It can harm terribly your self-trust.

·      Make a list of things that you like in yourself like: qualities, abilities, conquers, physical characteristics, appearance, etc. do not minimize your qualities and abilities. If you’ve difficult to do it, ask a friend to help you. It is possible that other people see wonderful things on you that you don’t even know.

·      Challenge yourself. For example, make a dinner for your friends, start a schedule of exercises, learn something that you always wanted but you thought that you wouldn’t be able to do, a change in your looks that you always were afraid of doing, etc. When you reach your goals, celebrate! Celebrate your successes, it doesn’t matter how small they may seem to be.

It is this way that you will develop self-trust and also move forward. I’d love to read in the comments what you will do!

            Kisses!

Series Strong Woman 10 – Get out of your comfort zone and do not look back

The comfort zone is a place where a person feels secure and protected, it does not need much sacrifice, and coming out of it represents danger, fear and discomfort. I know very well what it is because I lived there for long time. Of course at that time, I did not have this understanding. I did not have any idea that I lived in a shell, the only thing I knew was that I felt comfortable in there. It was a wonderful place to me, I did not need to face some things, or “force” myself to something different or unknown that would make me feel uncomfortable. Everything seems to be perfect, until you perceive that place is not so good and it begins to disturb you. In fact, it is a weakness, something that makes us fragile, and it does not matter the reason why you don’t want to get out from it.

How many times we do not want to get out of our comfort zone to move forward! We say that we want God, but we carry on with the same life, the same habits and traditions, even though we know that it all will be harmful to us. We know that we need to change something in us or to do something different from what we are used to, but it is very hard for us to come out from the place or situation in which we feel comfortable and secure. We do not want anything that makes us feel uncomfortable. If we do not come out from our comfort zone, even though it is a fight against our flesh, we will never improve, we will remain comfortable but stuck in the same place.

For instance, if shyness does not let you talk about Jesus, and you do not overcome it because it’s not pleasant to talk to unknown people; if you do not overcome your bad character, because you would rather explode with people to feel good; if you do not sacrifice your “own self” because it’s going to be painful to change your attitudes and behaviour; if you do not fight against your own will to do something you are not used to, and you would rather carry on being “protected” in your little world; how do you expect God to use you? How do you expect to make the different at work? How do you expect to have your own family? How do you expect to grow and get mature as a woman? How do you expect to have friends? How do you expect to overcome your own self?

These are questions you should ask yourself. You will see through your answers that the comfort zone is not favorable. God wants to count on you, and if you want to become strong and grow, you need to come out of your comfort zone and challenge your own ego. If you want to improve and move on, there is no other option, it is necessary to give a step of faith.

Are you willing to? If you ask me: it is going to hurt? I’ll answer: Yes, it is but you will never want to go back there. You will be like a little bird when it learns to fly, it never wants to be caged anymore!

Serie Strong Woman 9 – Resist evil

This is something that certainly make you a weak woman and vulnerable to the attacks of evil. The person that lies, cheats, or lives in error, she never feels strong, the evil is always accusing her and she is spiritually weak. Even with her going to church, reading the Bible, or even helping with something in regards to the work of God, if she lives in sin, she will not have peace and she will never be strong within herself. Many times many we hear excuses, such as: “I am weak”, “I don’t want to sin, but I end up falling,” “I simply can’t resist,” etc.

But we know that the one who decides is you, the devil suggests the sin, but the one who decides whether or not to practice is the person herself. If you declare that you are weak that means that you will let yourself be taken by what you are feeling in the moment and you will fall. If you put in your mind that you are strong and that you will not give in, when the moment comes that is what will occur.

In the book James 4:7 shows the following:

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”   

To submit means to give yourself or obey God. When you are submissive to the will of God, you will not give room to do the devil’s will. Who lives in error is because they still have not submitted their life to God. To resist means to maintain yourself firm, to not give in, this is what we have to do to not fall in the temptation; be firm and not give in to the offers given by the devil.

Do you want to be a strong woman? Follow this direction, never confess that you are weak, but determine that you are strong and are able to overcome the sin, because you want to submit yourself to God’s will. Don’t forget what we talked about in the last posts regarding to thoughts.

And so will you submit yourself to God and resist the devil? That is the only way for him to flee from you.

 

Series Strong Woman 8 - Overcome the past

Here is the reason for the weakness of many women: their past. They carry the past with them and cannot let go of it. They said that they hate their past, they don’t have good memories, but at the same time they refuse to abandon it. It follows them, is stuck in their thoughts just like a leech and sucks all their energy and future projects. Many have been slaves unknowingly; slaves of themselves and of their past. I know it's not pleasant to talk about the past when it brings bad memories, but to be able to project for the future we need to tear off the bad roots that we carry from the past.

Maybe you're stuck with a bad feeling because of something you have suffered. Perhaps they’re fears, complexes, unforgiveness, or even the desire to die. It seems like life has no longer color for you. Maybe you had a bad experience and now you became closed, you don’t trust anyone, you don’t have friends, became bitter, unpleasant, and rough. Is it worth to let the past be part of your life? It seems like there are more losses than gains, doesn’t it? Jesus said:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11.28-30           

Get rid of that burden my friend, let your past in the place where it belongs: in the past. I need you to answer the following questions in the comments below:

What have you not solved in your past that you carry it to this day and makes you a slave of those feelings?

This has done good or bad to you?

What will you do about it?

It's time to put a stop! Those memories, feelings and everything negative that the past brings you has to be stopped now, otherwise you will remain weak! Do not allow your past to control your present and your future. When thinking about your past experiences, try to recognize them as a source of learning, not as vulnerability. Difficult and stressful situations can teach you to be stronger in the future.

Remember that all the difficulties you faced were learning experiences. You’ve already needed strength and courage to overcome difficult moments; odds are not exactly news in anyone's life. To become a strong woman you need to overcome your past and decide to look ahead.

Series Strong Woman 7- Know your truth

Today we are going to do a test of self-knowledge. This part is not always easy, since many women are afraid of knowing themselves, to know what truly is inside of them, and take it in a constructive way. However, in order to be strong you will need to board in this proposal to know your true “you” starting from your principles and values, what you believe in, what motivates you, what makes you sad, and what changes your emotions. This is necessary for you to become strong. It’s only when know yourself that you will have the condition to make changes that at times, need to be drastic. Answer the following questions (to yourself) with sincerity, that way through your answers, you can detect how much you know about yourself:

·       How do you evaluate yourself?

·       Do you carry a lot of doubts?

·       Do you find yourself sad many times, without knowing why?

·       Do you find yourself consumed by negative thoughts?

·       Are you easily upset or irritated?

·       Your feeling of blame stops your actions?

·       Do you self-sabotage the objectives that you propose for yourself?

·       When difficulties emerge in your life, do you confront them or do you give up because you think that you will not be able to solve the problem?

·       Do you place yourself as a victim for the things that happened in the past?

·       Do you find it difficult to express your feelings with the fear of getting hurt?

·       Are you always defensive, because it is a way of protecting yourself?

Through your answers you just found your truth; but don’t be in distress if the test was not as positive as you imagined. Now it is time to change this situation. You already know what is inside of you and it will be easier to take actions and fight against everything that makes you weak. From now on, react differently. Your reactions need to be controlled by your “head.” Avoid as much as you can to appeal to your heart. There are people that are 100% emotion and this is why they are weak. Learn to be above your heart and let your mind take control.  You can do it when your life and your thoughts are in God. It is a matter of decision that will determine what will happen.

So, what did you find out?