OWN YOUR BUT

• DAY 290
• FEAR FILE: JEPHTHAH
• SCRIPTURES: JUDGES 11:1

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor, but he was the son of a harlot; and Gilead begot Jephthah.

There is something I have observed happens when someone is asked to describe another person. When asked they’d say something like, “I know her, she’s a very nice person, an entrepreneur, she will make a good wife but she is a mother of two kids from different fathers.” They start by mentioning what they know you to be today, but somehow they bring in what you used to be before or some flaw you cannot change or control. I call it the But Factor. I’ve discovered that there are two sets of people that do this.

The first is the person who mentions your “but” because they don’t want to be held responsible for whatever happens. For example, if they’re introducing you to a business, they’re like, well, “She’s very good at her work, but she does not deliver on time.” They’re telling you so that you know what you’re signing up for and you won’t blame them if it doesn’t work.

The second set of people, I have an issue with. They recall your “but” to limit you to what you used to be. To them, all that you are now is not enough to erase whatever past or flaw you have. They are like the brothers of Japheth.

Mighty But

Although Japheth was a mighty man of valor, the fact that he was born by a harlot was the only thing his brothers saw in him, that’s how they spoke of him, and they reduced him to his birth history. So they denied him his father’s inheritance. He was a mighty man of valor, but that was not enough to erase where he was coming from. His father made the decision to be with a harlot but he is living the consequence of that decision.

It’s because of this set of people that a lot of us are hiding our past or flaws. Because we want a fair chance, we don’t want to be judged by the part of us we cannot change and I understand it. However, I want to let you know that you don’t have to allow people to make you feel uncomfortable because of a “but” you cannot change. Because in spite of your “but”, God can make something out of you. Irrespective of what flaws Japheth had, God gave him strength and courage and he became a mighty man of valor.

Flip The Script

Instead of living in fear of that flaw, past, or, “but” and letting people’s judgment affect your sense of worth, own it. Not arrogantly but courageously. Own that “but”. Because the truth is, it’s going to come up at some point and you cannot let it become a hindrance to all that God has in store for you. Own it in such a way that you see what you became in spite of all that happened in your life.

You start with the flaw and end with the good. “I used to be weak, but now I am strong.” Flip the script. “I used to be this but look what God made out of my life.” When you own your butt like that, guess what happens? You live a life of courage. You no longer allow what you were to define who you can become.

If there is a but in your life that you are still struggling to overcome, ask God right now to help you with it. And if you have overcome it, receive the grace to leave it behind and move ahead. God can still do great things with you irrespective of your “but.”

Shalom