Rest, Love, and Worth: Lessons from O Holy Night

This week on the podcast, I reflect on the lyrics from “O Holy Night”.  They are a powerful lens for exploring the true worth of our souls. Some of my thoughts came after reading a book by Lysa Terkurst. I have linked her book below.

Here are 3 key takeaways:

• Your soul’s worth comes from being loved by your Creator.  Remember that our true identity and value aren’t determined by labels or the opinions of others, but by the love God has for each of us. “Our souls feel their worth”—that’s the central message of Christmas.
• Healing happens when we replace lies with truth. So many of us walk around carrying labels put on us by others (not quite “enough”, unloved, unworthy). This episode encourages us to confront those lies, listen to what God says about us, and let go of anything that diminishes our value.
• We’re called to love, encourage, and help others see their worth too. Especially during a season when many struggle, we can be the hands and feet of love—whether that’s sharing kindness, helping those in need, or simply being present and reminding someone of their value.

Links 

• Join Kelly's Group Coaching Program
• Lysa Terkurst Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely. 

Let's connect.

I am cheering for you!

Transcript

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This week on the podcast, I am sharing a Christmas. Sermon that I preached about the song, oh, Holy Night. Having power, thoughts like"our soul is valuable", can really serve us no matter what time of year, but especially during the Christmas season. Welcome to the Live A Vibrant Life podcast. I'm life coach Kelly Tibbits, and each week I'll be here to encourage and equip you with the tools you need to grow in self-awareness and invest your best energy in your dreams and your purpose. I believe self-awareness changes everything. Let's get started. Oh, Holy Night. The stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our Dear Savior's birth Long Lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and our souls felt it's worth. My kids did the best Christmas pageant ever, every Christmas for multiple years when they were little. I don't know if you're familiar with this story. An easy way to describe it would be to say it's about a family of children called the Herdman's They are dirty. Parents aren't paying any attention to them and they don't know any scripture. One day they show up at their local church just as it's time to put on the Christmas pageant. They end up stepping into the roles of Mary and Joseph and the angels. And the story of Christmas comes to life. It was such a joy each year for my girls to be part of that and sing these songs. And every year you hoped for a part where you got to be a herdman.'cause that was so fun, right? My youngest, when she was five, got, in my opinion, the pinnacle role. Which is Gladys, the youngest of the little Herdman children in the play because Gladys says the most important line. She comes out as only a 5-year-old can and says, Hey, unto you, a child is born. Because that's how you say it when you're five, a child is born. That is the good news of today. Unto you, a child is born. When we believe that our souls feel their worth. So what does that even mean? Our souls feel their worth? Another word might be disciple. A great, definition I've seen is someone who is a loving follower of Jesus. when we understand the love of God, we're able to share it with other people. As broken people, we will say things and do things that injure each other. And if we're honest, people have said things and done things that have injured our soul. For some of us, that rejection happened way back in grammar school while you were on the playground. Someone said something or did something. You went out to recess as part of a group of friends, and you came back in and had to sit at the table alone. Others of us have had people speak lies over us and you began to believe it. Maybe you were called fat or ugly or stupid or a loser, and to this day you still struggle with that label. I grew up very poor, and because of that we moved neighborhood to neighborhood. And in Lowell that wasn't common back then. You kind of lived in one neighborhood your whole life. So I went to one school when I was younger in Pawtucketville, and then we moved to Centerville and then we moved to Christian Hill and I had to keep making friends and it made my soul feel like I was unloved and I didn't have anybody I could count on. And then as I was a teenager, I had a lot of acne. So the word I believed was ugly. And then I had a lot of skinny friends. For whatever reason, the word I believed about myself was fat. And I don't know if any of you look back in the past and say, if I could only be that fat again, I would be really happy. But those were the words I believed about myself alone and fat and ugly. And maybe there are labels that people have spoken over you, lies they've said that are not true. But I know what happened to me is somewhere between first grade and 12th grade. I lost the parts that God had created in me in advance to do what He's called me to do. And when I went off to college, I was able to sort of reinvent myself. I began to get glimpses again of who it is that God made me to be. And then in my thirties, I began to be surrounded by people who spoke truth over me. And so the beautiful thing is that God makes all things new, doesn't he? I was able to make sure that my children knew growing up. It doesn't matter how smart you are, how good you are at sports, what matters is are you kind and loving? You may have been hurt, you may have been rejected, and it's still there. It's lingering and entangling you and keeping you from moving forward into the role, into the place that God has created in advance for you to be. And the good news is God is good and he's good all the time, and he has a great plan for your life. Paul told this to his friends in Ephesus, in the book of Ephesians chapter three, and I want to read a little bit to you. This is true for you and for me today."May you have the power to understand as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, how deep his love is for us, and may you experience the love of Christ, though it's too great to understand fully, and then what will happen. You will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" If we could look outside of time, we might be able to see back to those days when someone said something that wasn't true was a lie, and that lie became a label that you wear even to today. Someone might have said something, or done something, or both- and you left that moment feeling like you were not accepted or you were not loved. And to this day, you wear a label that says unloved. And that's not truth. The truth is you are worthy of love because the creator of the universe made you and loves you more than you will ever understand. Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ. And Christ came to reconcile us his father, the God who made us and knows us, who loves us and has a great plan for us. And that's the gospel. That's the good news. Leave here today knowing you are loved. No matter what's been said or what's been done, you are loved. Don't allow a lie to become a label. Believe what God says. And what does he say? He says, you are loved. Rejection steals the best of who I am by reinforcing the worst of what's been said to me or done to me. I have a friend he said once, I don't know what it is about us, but when someone says something negative, it's like getting a birthday card and we read it and believe it over and over and over again. And then other people come and they speak truth in life over us, and it's like getting a paycheck. You look at it, you glance at it, yeah, it's right, and you throw it away. That's not what we were intended to do. What does it look like today for your soul to feel it's worth? Have you ever had a moment where your body felt it's worth? You know that scene in Rocky where he runs up the stairs in Philadelphia and his hands up? Have you ever had that moment Some of my friends are runners, and I am so impressed by you, like you do five Ks and 10 Ks and half marathons and marathons. I've run one 5K, and my goal was very simple. Not to be last. I am not kidding you. I'm running and there are little children moving along and picking up a flower and walking a little, and they're beating me, right? And so my goal is like, I don't want to be last. And so I get near the end and I run like I've never run before and I literally cannot breathe when it's over. And the only other time I felt that way was my husband and I joined gym And the first class is a kickboxing class, and you're supposed to push your punching bag back when you're done. And I can't,'cause I'm really not strong. But two months later I'm in bootcamp and the goal was to push the bag across the floor and back and I did it. And I couldn't even believe what I was feeling inside my body felt is worth. That's what God created our soul to feel like. What I really love to do is to spend time with you and see where it is that you could use your gifts. When that happens, I have joy that makes my soul feel it's worth. I love seeing people that I've invested in, using their gifts. In fact, this morning I was standing at the welcome table and a little boy ran in and he said, can I help today? And the lady standing next to me said, wasn't that exciting? That's what we want, isn't it? Every one of us to walk in today and say, can I help? Can I use this gift that God has given me? When we do that, when we do the thing that we were created to do, we know that our soul begins to feel it's worth. But how do we do that? How do I care for my soul? One thing I'm trying to take seriously is practicing the presence of God. Emmanuel-God is with us., That's why we celebrate Christmas. No matter what is happening around us, God is on the throne. Oh, Holy Night continues. Truly, he taught us to love one another. How do we respond to the injustice of the world? What can I do? What can you do? What can one person do? Truly, he taught us to love one another. About two months ago a woman came to my office, and she had heard about two families that were recent refugees, and they had nothing. She came to me and said, would your church be able to help? My body was so tired, but all I can say is my soul felt the worth of their souls. I began to cry for them. I didn't know what God was calling me to do, but I knew he was calling me to do something. So on a Friday morning, I got up and I made a Facebook post of the needs that these people had. I thought maybe a friend of mine has an extra coat and I can bring it to them. Two hours later I had to shut down that Facebook posts. People were offering more than I could ever do. What people did, spoke life, not just to me, but to my family, to see person after person arrive at my doorsteps with new items for people they will never meet. I bring the items to harbor. And again, as a person with anxiety, I begin to worry. See, God has just miraculously provided and now I'm scared again. How am I going do this? How am I going get the gifts to the right people and separate it out? But God wasn't asking me to do everything. He's God. I am not. He was just asking me to be faithful in the little. And so I just simply sent out a note, Hey, is there anyone who would like to come and sort things or bring people some things? And right away, two families came to me and said, not only do I want to do this, I want to invest in this family. I want to let them know that God loves them. I want to teach them English, I want to be there for them. Other people came and they sorted items and they drove items. I didn't have to do anything other than make a Facebook post. God provided everything else for these people, and that's what he does. God never calls us to do everything, but he does call us to do something, doesn't he? Truly, he taught us to love one another and in his name, all oppression will cease. In the book of Ephesians, chapter three, Paul reminds his friends and he reminds all of us today who we are. We are holy. We are loved people, and I'd love for you to listen to this prayer that Paul wrote, and I'd love for you to believe it."When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources, he will empower you with the inner strength through his spirit, and then Christ will make his home in your hearts and you will trust him. Your roots will go down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand like all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep is the love of God? And may you experience the love of Christ, though it's too great to understand fully, then you'll be made complete with all fullness of life and power that comes from God." Sweet hymns of joy. Let all within us praise his holy name. Let us celebrate, let us rejoice. We were made in the image of God. That's what it says in Genesis chapter one. We were made in the image of God. When we believe that, our soul feels it's worth When we leave this place knowing how loved we are, we are able to go to those that we are near and remind them of this truth. They are so loved by God. Their soul has so much worth. I know God has a great plan for you. Maybe you do know the worth of your soul, but you are exhausted. You're surrounded by people, and you're doing for them what they can and should be doing for themselves. Maybe today in the quiet, you can ask God for wisdom. You can ask for people to come alongside you. You are the loved child of the most high God. Breathe that in, but don't hyperventilate, right? Don't keep it in. Breathe it back out. Find someone you can share that love with. Maybe you're feeling discouraged and my word to you is, can you find someone to encourage today? Maybe you feel like there's simply not enough resources. Well is there a way I can be generous today You are who God says you are, and you were created in advance to do something that only you can do. Find a song that has truth in it, and listen to it over and over again until you believe it. Oh, holy night your soul has worth. Believe what God says. Stop listening to the lie that became a label. Don't allow it to take the worth from your soul. Write down the truth of God and believe it. Slow down, be still, rest. I don't know if you enjoy rest, but you were created for it. God intended you to be someone who can sit and know that he is God. In Psalm 46, verses 10 and 11, he says be still and know that I am God. Ask for strength and for joy, and for peace, and for love. Your soul has worth. It was created by the creator of the universe who loves you more than you'll ever be able to understand. Higher, deeper, wider than you will ever understand. This Christmas we can be reminded of the truth. Emmanuel. God is with us Thank you for joining the Live A Vibrant Life podcast. I hope our time together encourage you and will equip you with the tools you need to move into the vibrant life you desire. I'm here to help you live a brave, creative, purpose-filled life. And if you'd like to learn more. You can follow me on Instagram or Facebook, Kellytibbitts life coach, or visit my website kelly tibbits.com. I look forward to connecting again soon.