When Doves Cry: Seeking Validation

So many people walk through life constantly seeking validation. Are you one of them?

Jeff reminds us that if we feel unaffirmed or unappreciated, we will seek validation somewhere—money, relationships, our work. But it’s only when Christ and our Heavenly Father validate us that we can be confident in our true worth. In today’s episode, Jeff addresses several unhealthy ways we might be seeking validation and shares wisdom to help us find our true identity and worth in Christ.

SHOWNOTES

*Quotes from the Show *

Matthew 19:5 - “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one.”

Prince: When Doves Cry - “How can you just leave me standing? Alone in a world that's so cold (so cold) Maybe I'm just too demanding. Maybe I'm just like my father, too bold. Maybe you're just like my mother. She's never satisfied (she's never satisfied). Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like, when doves cry.”

John 12:42-43 - “Nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

Matthew 20:1-16 - “For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”

How Does God Validate Us?

He Made Us In His “Image And Likeness” (Genesis 1:27)
Zephaniah 3:17 - “The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing”

*He Loves Us Even When We Sin *

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

He Is Always On Your Side
Romans 8:31 - “What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who is against us?”

He Has Placed Us In His Family The Church
**
**God Commends Us, We Don’t Commend Ourselves
2 Corinthians 10:18 - “For it is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends.”

Ultimate Validation Comes From God, Not Others
Proverbs 25:27 - “It is not good to eat much honey, so be sparing of complimentary words.”

*He Is Eagerly Waiting To Reward Us *
Matthew 6:16-18 - “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Resources
Email Jeff: [email protected]
Visit the Museum of the Bible
Get Jeff’s Shownotes by texting “jeffcavins” to 33-777
How to Pray Like Mary by Sonja Corbitt
June Trip: “2020 Vision” Young Adult Pilgrimage