In a new four-week study, author and pastor’s wife Julie Cannon encourages others to “hear your heavenly Father say loudly and clearly, ‘You are more than just a number!’”

A certified school counselor and motivational speaker, Cannon has earned a spiritual coaching certificate from the Blackaby Ministry Institute. She is the wife of Stephen Cannon, senior pastor of Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken.

“We live in a world defined by numbers,” Cannon observes. “From the number on a scale to the number on a report card, to the number of points on a scoreboard, to the number of friends that liked a recent social media post, to the number of dollars in a bank account, to the number of direct reports, to the number of years on the planet, to the number of years single or married — the list is endless.”

So, it’s very easy to allow those numbers to define us, Cannon notes. “A number,” she explains, “can help us meet a goal and be a healthy objective or leave us empty and depleted.”

In her own life, the pursuit of numbers has been an ongoing battle, she confides. And, throughout her book are many raw experiences that she hopes will help others conquer their numbers.

“I pray that you will see yourself anew as loved, chosen, accepted, redeemed, gifted, and appreciated,” she writes. “And I pray that the number you most readily identify with will cease to rule and reign over your thoughts, attitudes, and actions.”