Leah Darrow Quotes

The opposite of love is not hate; it is use. Use is the abuse of love; in fact, it betrays love. When we use another person, we place their needs below our own, but worse yet, we place their value and dignity below ours.

As a little girl I was scared of monsters. My parents told me they didn't exist. How I wish they would have told me the whole truth. Monsters do exist; they're just not hiding in closets.

To be a woman is to be more than our parts. It is to be more than the length of our lashes or the plumpness and color of our lips.

The evil one wants us to think, live, and act as if we are damaged goods, ugly and worthless. This. Is. A. Lie. We must not believe it, and if we hear it, we must banish those thoughts straight to hell where they belong.

Proverbs 27:17 wisely says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (NIV). True friends speak truth to you, make you better, and challenge you. True friends know they can’t complete you or make you happy, but they aid and guide you to the One who does.

But the truth that I did not understand at the time was that God did not make our bodies for public consumption or consumerism. We are not the sum of our physical attributes and what we can contribute to others' satisfaction. All those thoughts about how we are not good enough, skinny enough, or perfect enough are, quite plainly, lies.

The antidote to this worldview is knowing and believing that God created us out of His infinite love and that there is nothing we can do to merit His affection; there is no way we can become more attractive or increase our significance in His eyes. Not only did we do nothing to deserve His love, but we did a whole lot to reject it-yet Christ loves us. With this confidence in His unchangeable love, we can stop striving for what we already have and start living the life we were made for: a life worthy of the dignity with which we were created.

Let me tell you the truth: You are enough. You are more than enough. God made you, and God does not make junk. "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." (Ps. 139:13) You are not just a body; you are a body and a soul. You have an inmost being that does not come from your parents, from the physical DNA that they gave you, but from God Almighty who breathed life specially and intentionally into your very self. Not only did God create you, He continues to care for you and watch over you. "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid." (Luke 12:7)

My parents are really good people. . .and mostly normal. . . Their rules made practical sense--eat your vegetables, don't ride your bike through cow manure, and don't let your little brother eat his boogers--all of which were good but weren't exactly rules with life-changing consequences if they weren't followed.