"Just" Ruins Lives

It’s amazing the power that words have over us. What’s even more astounding is the power willingly give to words.

For example. Think of a 4-letter word. No not that one; this is a family-friendly blog. Think of a 4-letter word that starts with “J”. Got it? Ok my title might have given it away.

“Just”

“Just” is a word that unless absolutely necessary, I’m trying to abolish from my vocabulary. I have no qualms with using it in a comforting or consoling manner: “It’s just a little scrape”, “it’s just a few bucks”, or the ever-so-classic-yet-defiant, “it’s just a flesh wound!”.

What’s my recent vendetta against the “J” word? When I first started working at my current job as an administrative assistant, I was introduced to someone and I said “Oh I’m just their admin.” The person looked at me and said “no one is ‘just’ anything. You matter a lot more than ‘just’.” It’s something that’s stuck with me even to this day, and I’ve been here about 8 months now.

Let’s look at my moniker for my blog: “Just-A-Redhead”. Shame on me! It’s not much of a secret if you know me or if you’ve read this blog for any amount of time that I’ve got quite the history of self-hate. For the better part of my life I hated my body, I hated my self, and pretty much thought I was worthless. I would be extroverted to a T then consider myself “just another dumb teenager” inside. When I was in college, I was “just a college student”. When I was in a relationship, I was “just X’s girlfriend” at events. I’m involved in children’s ministry at my church and there I’ve considered myself “just another volunteer.”

I’m not just anything.

I am Chosen (1 Peter 2:9)

I am Forgiven (Colossians 1:13-14)

I have a Purpose (Jeremiah 29:11)

I am New (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I bring Light to dark places (Matthew 5:14)

I am Beloved (Song of Songs 6:3)

I am a Daugher, an Admin, a Cousin, a Teacher [of children], a Friend, a Woman, a Granddaughter, a Dancer, a Redhead.

By calling myself on this blog “Just-A-Redhead”, I’m shorting myself so much. I’m more than “Just a Redhead”. A friend once told me that I’m multi-faceted like a precious stone.

Precious stones aren’t just rocks. They’re treasured, admired, used to adorn people and things. Using “just” is fine in certain contexts, but don’t ever refer to yourself or to another person as “just” anything.

No one is “just” anything. Love yourself more than that. Someone else does.

Abba help me to see my full potential in life, and to realize how much You truly love me…

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)