Conscious Dignity

It is the privilege of everyone to so live that God will approve and bless (her).
….It is not the will of your heavenly Father that you should ever be under condemnation and darkness.
It is not pleasing to God that you should demerit yourself.

…While we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, the Word of God does not condemn a proper self-respect.
…child of God, we should have a conscious dignity of character, in which pride and self-importance have no part.”

Excerpts from Daughters of God 142, E G White

Self-worth, Self-Respect

Many struggle with feelings of self-worth and value.

The Lord has given each one of us a sense of self respect, and this must not be opposed….

 God wants us to respect ourselves.

Excerpts from Daughters of God 141 E G White

Feel the pain - Cry if you want

Go ahead, feel the pain - Cry if you want. Acknowledge something has died even if it is just a dream of how your life was supposed to go. Tears have a way of cleansing the soul and refreshing the spirit. As you release all that is bottled up inside, God collects those precious tears in a bottle, and does not disregard them. See Psalm 56:8.

Unveiling the Diva Mystique p 82, Michelle McKinney Hammond, Harvest House Publishers, 2005

Kidnapping

In 1972, my boyfriend, a leading high school actor, encouraged me to try out for a play. Haughtily he challenged, "I realize you are shy and do not have my acting ability, and therefore will not land a part, but at least try-out; it might do you some good.” Accepting his challenge, I was chosen for a non-speaking role in a citywide production.

One evening, after dress rehearsal, a fellow actor, a big, muscular man in his late-fifties, forcibly kidnapped me in the parking lot badly bruising my ribs. He was serious! This was not in fun!

At the time I was 17 years old, weighed 100 pounds, with a 20-inch waist, and did not have the strength to fight him off! Being powerless to escape I continually cried out, "Take me to my car at once!" However he drove to his apartment going through rough sections of town; I was too afraid of the area to escape.

Tenaciously I hung on to my status of virgin and kept it.

Praying to Jesus for help and protection He answered my prayer of faith and I only spoke the words God gave me.

After two hours of being alone with this man in his apartment he drove me back to my car commenting how he had "special plans” for me that night, but was strongly restrained from carrying them out. Praise God for His watch care and love!