Hope/Encouragement Archives

Two Words that Change Everything

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I’ve been given a hard task—write down the lies/condemnation my heart hears and the truth that will set me free.

I approach this assignment on an ordinary weekday morning over a cup of coffee. I pull out my favorite journal and write Lies/Condemnation on one side and Truth on the other, and then I draw a black line right down the middle.

The first lie/condemnation comes easily, like a strong wind blowing through me…

I’m not good enough.

It’s my signature struggle, the phrase that echoes through my mind most often. When I’ve addressed it in the past I’ve tried a simple counter argument: I am good enough. This never seems to work. I can say the words but I don’t feel them in my guts and bones. They ring untrue.

On this particular morning I realize suddenly that’s because they are untrue. For me to be “good enough” by my own standards I would have to be perfect. I am not perfect. I never have been. I never will be on this side of eternity.

Shoot. I may need more coffee.

I decide to go digging around in the Word for what else I might write in the Truth column. I find this:

“When I tried to keep the law [[be good enough]], it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless.” Galatians 2:19-21

Paul is writing these words to people who have been trying to be good enough, too. He is telling them what I’ve come to see: that I will never meet the impossible standard of perfection. His answer is not to pat them on the back and tell them they’re nice people anyway. No, his response really comes down to two words…

But Jesus.

It seems in that moment the table on which my coffee mug is sitting shakes, the earth tilts sideways, my old perspective shatters. This is the truth that overcomes every word of condemnation I hear inside my heart…

I’m not good enough. But Jesus.

I fall and fail and make mistakes. But Jesus.

I didn’t get everything right today. But Jesus.

What we need is not more “self-esteem”; it’s to fully understand that our hope and identity and security rest only in our Savior, in what He did for us on the cross and through His resurrection, in who He says we are as a new creation.

I fill the lies/condemnation column of my journal. Half the page is covered in black ink by the time I’m done. Yet when I finish there are still only two words on the Truth side: But Jesus.

I know I will go back to this place in my journal. Because as long as I am on this earth storms will come and the lies and condemnation will try to swirl through my mind like tiny tornadoes. Only truth can still them. As my friend and fellow writer Sharon Jaynes says in Enough: Silencing the Lies that Steal Your Confidence, “The enemy tries to get us to focus on our flaws rather than on our faith.”

Maybe your life could use a little more peace today too. What our hearts struggle with may be different but what rescues us is the same. We are the beloved and this is our hope, our anthem, our heart-shout that rises above the wind within…

But Jesus.

XOXO
Holley Gerth

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Right now, we’re doing a special link-up series to celebrate Fiercehearted: Live Fully, Love Bravely. You’re a fiercehearted woman so I’m asking you to pour out a little love and courage with your words every Wednesday {the link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post, especially if it’s about living fully and loving bravely, and then share it here. Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.

When you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!

I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth!

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Hope and Truth for Life’s Battles

by Holley 16 Comments

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A friend of mine and I talked about hard times in our lives. We traded battle stories over salads, forks in our hands like weapons. We pondered how when things get tough in our lives the enemy seems to look for chances to do even more damage—to divide, bring discouragement, whisper lies.

Have you ever experienced this too?

In other words, the enemy of our heart is an opportunist. “He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt. 5:8). We need to know this so we can be on guard, so we can fight for our own hearts and each other rather than against.

As my friend and I talked more we realized something else too, something that felt ancient and yet new. God is also an opportunist. “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them” (Rom. 8:28).

When things get tough in our lives, God looks for a chance to do even more good to and for us—to unite, bring hope, whisper truth. We need to know this so we can look for what He wants to offer our hearts, the treasures hidden in the darkness, the unexpected spoils of war.

As many of you know, my Mom recently had heart surgery. As I paced the halls of a hospital for three weeks it sometimes seemed I could feel the breath of the enemy on my neck, ready to devour. But, even more, I could sense the presence of Jesus, the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5) walking with me, roaring for our family, giving us what we needed most in that hard place.

We are humans on a broken, spinning earth. We are warriors disguised in tennis shoes and yoga pants. We bleed and cry and drink bitter cups of hospital coffee. We are small and yet part of a bigger, wilder story than we can even imagine, one that’s been unfolding since the beginning of time.

Today the enemy of our hearts is working in our lives.

Today the God of all eternity is working in our lives.

I don’t think I have to tell you which one is going to win, which one has already won. That’s why we’ll celebrate Easter this weekend. Amen?

XOXO
Holley Gerth

P.S. This post is inspired by my devotional What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days. If you need truths you can hold onto, this devotional is for you, friend.

P.P.S. Right now through midnight on March 31st, the ebook version of my newest book is on sale for $1.99! If you haven’t read Fiercehearted: Live Fully, Love Bravely yet — or if you’d like to gift the ebook to a friend via Amazon — now would be a great time.

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When you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!

I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth!

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Hope When We’re Living a Hard Story

by Holley

I’ll celebrate my daughter’s birthday tomorrow. This might seem like a fairly ordinary occurrence. But it’s not to me. Because this is the girl God gave us after almost a decade of infertility. You can read our story here, but the short version is we met when Lovelle was twenty, she became ours at twenty-one and tomorrow she will blow out twenty-five candles on her cake.

Because God is extravagant in His goodness, I’m not only a Mama now but also a Nana. Lovelle and her husband welcomed baby Eula Ellen (nicknamed “Ellie”) into their lives last August. God is in the details because August 28th is the day Lovelle officially took our last name. We call it “Gerth Day” and treat it like a holiday in our family. Ellie came on Gerth Day.

A few months after Ellie arrived, Lovelle and I were standing in the kitchen at my house. She asked, tentatively, “Does being around Ellie make you wish you had a baby of your own?”

I didn’t hesitate with my answer, “If God told me I could go back in time and choose to have a baby of my own or have grown-up you again, I’d pick you in a second. I wouldn’t even have to think about it.” This is the gut-honest truth. This is redemption. This is God doing heart-healing in ways I never knew were possible until I lived it.

I share this because you may be coming up on a milestone too. Only you may not be on the other side of the answered prayers yet. You may still be in the ugly-cry-in-the-bathroom, stare-at-the-negative-pregnancy-test part of the journey. Or you could be experiencing another kind of barrenness in your life—a door to a job that just won’t open, a relationship that seems to have no life left in it, a dream that seems to be slipping away forever.

If so I want to whisper, so gently, don’t give up yet. I will never, ever tell you not to cry or rant or hide under the covers when you need to. Feel all the feelings. Say all the things. Just know that underneath all of that there can still be hope. God isn’t finished with your story yet.

It turns out Lovelle is a writer and speaker too. She said this in a blog post: “As I find myself looking back on my past and all the things that have happened to me, I can’t help but wonder why things had to go the way they did…. Are you frustrated with the way your life is looking right now? Are you losing your grasp on contentment? Are you trying to read too much into how God is working in your life? I want you to know that God doesn’t waste anything. Even if you are doing something you feel is useless, God has a plan and it will come to pass. That’s the promise I am believing today and my prayer is that you do the same.”

Yes, tomorrow I will celebrate my daughter’s birthday. I will celebrate the beautiful, kind, strong young woman I waited on for so many years. I will celebrate the family God has given us. I will celebrate the God who knows the desires of our hearts even better than we do, who is still writing all our stories in wild and mysterious ways today.

Happy Birthday, Lovelle. You will always be one of the best gifts God has ever given me.

XOXO,
Holley

P.S. Would you like to celebrate Lovelle’s birthday with our family? One way you can do so is by joining us in partnering with Compassion International to empower little girls in poverty to grow up to be fiercehearted women.

P.P.S. These words are from today’s (in)courage blog post. If you’d like to leave a comment for me or Lovelle, please click here and we’ll be sure to read your comments there!

We’re More than We Think We Are

by Holley 22 Comments

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I am Holley, daughter of Lynda and Don, wife of Mark, Mama to Lovelle and Nana to Ellie. I’m a writer and a coffee drinker, a “y’all” sayer and awkward laugher. I’m as southern as sweet tea. It’s so easy to believe this is the sum of me. But there is so much more to us than what human eyes can see…

“Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, ‘Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas’ (which means ‘Peter’).” – John 1:42

I love that Jesus starts with how Simon has likely always seen himself, but then doesn’t stop there. Jesus goes beyond the human and gives not just a new name but a new identity. “Cephas” or “Peter” both mean “Rock.”

I wonder if Peter had ever thought of himself in this way. Over the next few chapters he shows himself to be volatile, unsteady, impulsive–so much more like the waves he has fished on rather than a firm foundation. But Jesus calls out something in Peter and he grows into it, becomes it. He does the same in us.

How would you define yourself today? Mama, wife, friend, sister, coworker. Introvert, extrovert. Southern, Northern, Australian. Or maybe the words are not so kind: Failure, addict, broken, insecure, unworthy. Whatever the description might be, Jesus has more to add: Beloved, chosen, accepted, forgiven, free, more than a conqueror.

Like Peter, it’s okay if we can’t feel, see or even fully understand what God says is true of us yet. What matters is that we trust our human identity is not our ultimate destiny. So when the world around us tries to tell us who we are this week, let’s pause and listen for the only voice that gets the final say.

We are loved. We are chosen. We have a part in God’s plan today.

XOXO,
Holley Gerth

P.S. If you liked this post, you’ll love You’re Already Amazing. Already read it? Check out the companion LifeGrowth Guide, DVD and devotional.

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When you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!

I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth!

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Your Story Isn’t Over Yet

by Holley 32 Comments

Maybe real courage is simply bearing witness to the wild and mysterious story God has always been writing. Perhaps true success is finally believing our actual, everyday part in his story is good . . . and good enough. — Fiercehearted

We started our twenty-one days together talking about stories, about a friend of mine who shared hers on a black stool that swivels. And we are coming full circle because we, fiercehearted women, are all living a story today. A story crafted and told by the Author of heaven. The star-scatterer. The mountain-mover. The water-walker. It is a story of being brave and strong and true. A story of, most of all, love.

In the day-to-day, it doesn’t feel like a story. It feels like dishes in the sink. Reports on the desk. Another mile behind the steering wheel of the car. But this doesn’t change what’s real. Beneath the surface of all that ordinary still lurks the glory.

Sometimes the plot is confusing. Or strange. Or sad. Sometimes we want to cut a chapter out with sharp scissors. Sometimes we want to be the editors with the red ink. Sometimes we want to skip right to the end just to make sure it says, “And they lived happily ever after.”

But this is not our role. It is not for us to say, “This is what happens next” or “I’m changing the ending.” Instead, we are to trust, to wait, to be in the middle of the mystery. There is so much we do not know, that we will not know, but we can be certain of this: the Author is good and we are loved.

Yes, even when the unexpected sentence comes. When we face that dark-as-night period. When the syllables jumble together and we scratch our heads. Even in those places, between those lines, there is a God at work who has always been speaking, always been creating beauty out of the broken. “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25, NLT).

Jesus is still doing many other things. He is not done with history. He is not finished with the part of it that is our story either. Whatever scene we find ourselves in today, it is not the final page. Hold on, there is a turning coming. There is more than this, more than here and now. We have not yet seen the there and then.

We are overcomers. We are warriors. We are a force to be reckoned with in this world. And whatever the future brings, our God is still holding the pen. He is the only one who gets to write “The End.”

XOXO,
Holley

P.S. This post is an excerpt from my new ebook: Strong, Brave, Loved. We’re wrapping up the 21 Day Strong, Brave, Loved Challenge — but it’s not too late for you to join! If you missed it, just visit this post to learn more and then head to my Facebook or Instagram pages for each day’s challenge and encouragement. You can easily start at the beginning – Day One – because the Challenge will stay up on both Facebook and Instagram! If you’ve completed the Challenge and would like more encouragement, Fiercehearted would be a great next step for you!

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When you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!

I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth!

{click to tweet that you’re joining me here today}

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