Call me an affirmation junkie, but I love to be affirmed!
I also love to affirm others. To affirm means; to state somehing firmly; to give approval.
So affirmation is a healthy thing which most of us desire and all of us need. It is essential to the development of our identity that we are strengthened by the affirming words of others.
On the flip-side; when affirmation goes lacking, or we are verbally demeaned, a healthy sense of identity can remain uncultivated or be destroyed altogether. The effects can be devastating, often resulting in toxic behavior patterns that can make navigating through a world of complex relationships very difficult.

I recently met a woman whose life story is worthy of a movie. She told me how she wrestled with the negative affects of being told, from a very early age, that she was ugly. Winding up a single mother of four she said she "worried every day as to where the milk and Cheerios would come from; but by God's grace they came."
But through her many trials she learned the value of affirmation and its vital connection to building a healthy identity and a promising destiny.
It became my privilege to watch day after day as she, an elementary school teacher, tirelessly affirmed the little children in her class through careful correction, innovative ideas and simple hugs.
I find it interesting, as I grow older, that even people my age underestimate the value of affirmation--the need to receive it as well as give it. I've observed the lives of some who have allowed their hearts to grow calloused and cold, as if to tell the rest of us that that's what it means to "grow up." But if that's the case--I hope I never grow up!

News Flash: Life is tough, really tough! That's why we need to live in the power of affirmation.

Jesus was affirmed before everyone when his Father said; "This is my beloved son. I am very pleased with him!" And I believe it was Abba's affirmation, strengthening the human heart of Jesus, which enabled him to carry our cross into death, then rise to eternal life in order to share that affirmation with us!
Do you want to live in Jesus' kind of life?
If so, become an affirmation junkie!
You might be surprised how healthy you'll become, and how you might affect the lives of others.