The majority of the world’s population suffers from guilt and unhappiness. The way we were raised, the teachers who taught us and the people we associated with have a tendency to develop who we are. The things we heard, the way we were treated and the things we did all became a part of us. How much baggage do we carry? Did we feel accepted, were we praised or were we encouraged? Words are powerful! What we say or what is said to us can make an impression and may affect who we are and how we behave.

Some of us will say, it’s not my fault, if you knew what I went through you would understand why I am this way. If you think you cannot change you are only fooling yourself. As a child we may have felt rejected, unloved or even inadequate. If not one or more of these occurred in your life, you may be one of a very few. If we suffer from a sense of not belonging, we have a problem with feeling unworthy; we suffer from a negative attitude or are hesitant to take risks we may need to start life all over again. And that is a major reason God sent His Son, that we might begin again as a new person. Have we accepted His promise and have we gotten rid of the baggage that as Christians was holding us back from becoming a new person?

II Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” How many Christians do you know who have failed to become totally new? Most believers have read Scripture, John 8:32 – “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” To me this means believe in God’s promises and you shall be set free from all of the baggage that you may have been carrying around. Then what are God’s promises?

He tells us that everyone was created with a need to belong. Therefore, He sent His Son so that we can become free to enter His presence and become one of His family. When we accept Christ we are adopted into God’s family. We now belong to a God who we know loves us as family.

God knows for each of us to feel okay about who we are He tells us we are accepted, loved and He makes us worthy. We are worth something to Him and He wants to work through us. In fact, we are told that we are loved personally so much that He sent His only Son to die for each of us to show His love and acceptance.

We need to feel confident. God gave us His Spirit to live within us that we might become successful. Hence, God knew that in order for us to live the life He wants His children to live we had to feel loved and accepted, worthy and confident.

We know the problem and we know what God has done that we might get rid of all the baggage, such as guilt, not sensing that we belong, feeling unworthy and not being confident. First, we must recognize it is not how we feel that counts. Feelings are often deceiving. It is about whether we can trust God’s promises. Why do we think God sent Christ to earth as an individual? He did it that we might be set free from all of the things Satan has deceived us into believing. He did it that we might be free from the sin that was affecting how miserable our lives could become. Would we want any of our children to live unhappy lives? If we could, wouldn’t we change the circumstances that were making our children’s lives depressing and difficult? If we would do that for our family then why can we not accept that God has done what He has that our lives might be more satisfying? However, it takes our faith, our trust and our following Scripture. Are you willing to live a Christian life without peace, joy and happiness? Well, I was not. I prefer to live as the Bible teaches, regardless of the circumstances that occur. I know God will give me the peace and joy to get through any difficulty because He has. Why would I doubt Him in the future?