08 Mar Self-Respect : an act of worship
Respecting yourself is an act of worship.
Your very existence on this earth is a loan from your Creator. Thus, you have no right to allow anyone to mistreat God’s property such that you suffer unnecessary harm or loss due to human disregard, abuse, or disrespect. Too often we make excuses for others at the expense of ourselves…
And too often we make excuses for ourselves at the expense of our own souls.
So if you believe in respecting the dignified life God has loaned you in this world, then tell yourself, “No more, dear soul. No more.”
Whether it’s a broken contract in a business agreement. Staying in an unhealthy marriage because your “brothers and sisters” have convinced you that divorce is worse than silently suffering emotional and spiritual distress. Denying yourself the right to reasonable compensation for your professional work. Or denying yourself the right to marry the man or woman who is best for your soul because your “brothers and sisters” have shamed you into believing that God’s options in marriage—whether intercultural, interracial, or polygyny—are inferior to the ones they’ve limited you to. It’s time to say, “No more.”
God didn’t put you on this earth to suffer personal and financial loss due to others’ ignorance, wounded pride, and spiritual insecurities.
And He didn’t put you on this earth to suffer these losses due to your own.
Respect yourself, and choose what is best for *your* life and soul in front God. And trust that your Lord is bigger and wiser than any person, organization, or culture that tells you that you should suffer harm and loss just because they’re not ready to respect you choosing yourself.
—from the journal of Umm Zakiyyah
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