Becoming and Believing

I have just bought 'The Help' on DVD and am halfway through.  I read the book and watched it when it came out at the cinema, but I had forgotten some of the finer details of the plot.

 

The story is set in Jacksonville, Mississippi in the 60s, when racial tensions were high.  It explores life from the point of view of the 'help' - the coloured maids who work for the white families.

 

Their primary job is raising the children of these white families; indeed, they are more like parents to the children than their real parents. 

 

One of the main characters, Aibileen, looks after a small girl, Mae-Mobley.  Mae's own mother , Elizabeth, doesn't pay her much attention: she never hugs her or kisses her or spends time with her.  She never really looks at her or chats to her.  It is as if Elizabeth sees her daughter as a commodity or a status-symbol rather than a person.

 

It is Aibileen who instills a sense of self and self-worth in Mae-Mobley.  Every day, several times a day, Aibileen says to her,

"You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important."

 

And she teaches Mae to say these words to herself over and over until they sink in.

 

What we say to ourselves matters.  What we say about ourselves matters.

 

How often do we say negative or critical things to ourselves without really thinking about them?   

 

You're so stupid.  You'll never make it.  What are you thinking?  You're a failure.  You'll never measure up.  You're not good enough.

 

What we say about ourselves matters: it sinks into our skin and becomes a part of who we are.  Maybe not the first time we say it, but over time if we keep repeating the same messages, we will start to believe them.  Without questioning them.

 

After a while, they start to feel like the truth.

 

The Bible says,

"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

[Proverbs 23:7 KJV]

 

We become what we believe about ourselves.

 

So we need to make sure the things we are thinking are right.

 

Each one of us is hand-crafted and carefully created.

"We are God's "masterpiece."

[Ephesians 2:10 NLT]

  

So let's make sure that's what we tell ourselves.