Let me start by saying that this topic is something that I have personally struggle with and still do. By no means am I an expert on the subject, but I hope that my personal experience can help someone who's also struggling. This change in mindset doesn't happen automatically, and there is no "quick fix," but once you let the need to please go, you will feel free. When you invest time and energy into a friendship or romantic relationship, and the other person doesn't return your effort, you'll always feel rejected and abandoned. Unfortunately, this is the reality, and everyone will have to deal with these feelings at some point. Nobody is perfect, and people will ultimately let you down, but you can't let your mood and attitude depend on their actions, or you'll always be disappointed.

I can say with one hundred percent certainty that everyone reading this article is unique and has value not because I said it, but because God did. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." This verse is part of a letter written to a group of priests who have been exiled to a strange land. They have every reason to be upset with their situation and to feel abandoned by God. But no matter what circumstance I'm in I can always rest on the fact that God has a plan for my life that is far greater than anything I could ever plan for myself. When you believe this no one has the power to make you feel less than.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." This is so true! No one has the power to change your mood or make you feel less valuable then you are without your permission. As impossible as it sounds, imagine a world where we were utterly unbothered by the opinions of others, and we always walked and talked with confidence. That level of confidence is evident when a perfect God anchors your self-worth. Pastor Steven Furtick declared in a recent sermon, "It's not about how much confidence you have, it's about what you put it in." If your confidence and self-worth rest upon the promise of an unshakable God, you'll never feel like you're not enough.