My friend, Jodi, wrote this amazing book recommendation and I wanted to share it with you! Her book recommendation for March was: “Own Your Life” by Sally Clarkson. The book truly is amazing and I hope you will consider giving it a read.

This is a great book that I highly recommend!!  In this book, Sally encourages us to own our lives.  She defines it by saying, “Owning my life means taking responsibility for my own behavior, decisions, and attitudes so I may become all God created me to be and leave a legacy that points others to Him.”   Wow- this is a powerful statement!   I am responsible for me, my choices, my attitudes as well as my reactions to others.  It reminds me of my favorite saying, “My Response is My Responsibility.”  Recently, I made a wall hanging of this quote in my house as a reminder.   As a parent, I probably repeat it to myself and my kids multiple times a day.

Why is this so important to me?  Well, if I am completely honest, the majority of my life, I have not lived like this.  Instead of owning my life, my responses, my attitude, I would blame others when things did not go as expected or planned.   I would say whatever I was thinking and sometimes those words were not helpful and did not build anyone up.   The good news is that I become self-aware of this problem and thankfully, God has helped me grow in this struggle.

So how does this all relate to Sally’s book? She is encouraging you to own a specific area of your life in each chapter of her book.

Here are some a few of the chapter titles:

Owning your Priorities and Commitments

Owning your True Identity

Owning your Life Vision

Owning God’s Training

Owning your Faith

Owning your Response to Others

Owning your Integrity

Owning your Emotional Health

Owning your Motherhood

Owning the Influence Your Life Can Make ….. again, these are just some of the chapters.

I loved all the chapters but today, I am going to focus on Owning your True Identity!  She says, “Owning your life must begin with a healthy view of yourself that is based on what God thinks of you.”  So, what does God think of you?  Well let me share with you one of my favorite quotes from a book I just finished by Holley Gerth called “You’re Already Amazing: Embracing Who You are, Becoming All God Created You to Be.”  Another great book I highly recommend.

Holley says, “You’re a daughter of God, a holy princess, a woman created with strengths you’ve yet to fully grasp and a story that’s still being written by the divine Author himself.  And if you really take hold of who you are and what you’re called to do, there will be on stopping you.  That’s because there’s no stopping Him in you- and He’s got bigger plans for your life than you’ve ever imagined.”

Wow- I love this quote because this is truly our identity in Christ!  As a woman, we need to own this true identity!!! We are daughters of God with so much potential!!! However, many times, we do not own this identity but instead try to get our identity from others and their approval of us.  Ladies, this is a huge trap that only leads to feeling disappointed and inadequate.   Trust me, I have been there.   I honestly believe that this is one of Satan’s main tactics for shutting down women for God’s purpose in their lives.  He knows that we care what others think and he knows we want the approval of others.  So how do we combat this?    love what Sally says about it in her book. “I do not have the power to make everyone like me or approve of my values, looks, actions, or performance.  But I am responsible for how I react to others’ criticism of me.  If I allow their words to destroy my self-image, then I am allowing them to control me.  As I have grown in my walk with God, I’ve thankfully realized that allowing others to control the way I think about myself is a dark, endless hole.  I am committed to gradually growing and learning in every area of my life, but essentially I have accepted that I will always be the same person under it all.  I must daily decide to enjoy the person God made me

I love what Sally says about it in her book. “I do not have the power to make everyone like me or approve of my values, looks, actions, or performance.  But I am responsible for how I react to others’ criticism of me.  If I allow their words to destroy my self-image, then I am allowing them to control me.  As I have grown in my walk with God, I’ve thankfully realized that allowing others to control the way I think about myself is a dark, endless hole.  I am committed to gradually growing and learning in every area of my life, but essentially I have accepted that I will always be the same person under it all.  I must daily decide to enjoy the person God made me to be.”

There is such freedom in her words!!  Ladies, God has made all of us special and unique!  “We are fearfully and wonderfully made” Psalms 139:14.  Don’t let others tell you that you different.  Own your true identity in Jesus!   Don’t let Satan get in your head and make you doubt who you are in Christ!  You are amazing!  God designed each of us with unique gifts and personalities!  He wants you to live out your purpose that He designed you for and He wants us to build other women up!  I encourage you to send a friend a sweet text, email, letter, phone call today reminding her how special she is and how much you appreciate her!  All of us struggle with this at some level and I hope together we can own our true identity in Christ!

I want to end with one more thought.  At the end of each chapter, Sally has a section called “Own Your Part.”  This has become my new favorite saying; whenever I am in a situation, I think what is my part that I need to own.  Again, it has become a part of my parenting as well!!

Own Your Part!

I see the words for a new sign that I need to make in my house!

Love, Jodi

God, thank you for growing us!  Thank you for challenging us to become more Christ like in our responses, our attitudes and our choices.  I pray that we can truly take ownership of our lives so “we can become all God created us to be and leave a legacy that points others to You.” Thank you for creating us special and unique!  We love you so much!

In Jesus Name, Amen

If you want to learn more about Jodi, check out her darling blog: heartbreaktostrength.wordpress.com