Have you every asked anyone to share their best qualities and attributes with you? Have you ever asked them to share their strengths and weaknesses? I have to say that it is generally easier for a person to list off their weaknesses as opposed to their strengths and their negative qualities before their best qualities.
We oftentimes doubt that there is anything good we have to offer. We get discouraged when we don’t hit a goal weight and our friend has diet success. We look at our faces in the mirrors and wonder when these wrinkles came into our life. We second guess if we are good employees, moms, husbands, wives, students. We feel inadequate, we feel like we cant measure up. We do not see potential and we certainly don’t see beauty. And yet God says He has made everything beautiful in its time, that you are made in His image and that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. So why is our view still so negative, even after hearing these promises?
If you are a parent, aunt, uncle, sibling or friend have you every held a baby and just stared at them? You see their perfect little features. The baby softly sleeps on your chest or in your arms, without a care in the world. They take little breaths, they smile in their sleep. They have been born into the world and we can clearly see what a miracle this little life is. The miracle of life is being held in your arms. Every little heartbeat and tiny finger and tiny toe is perfect to the beholder and especially to the parent.
When God created us we too were tiny beautiful miracles of life. We too were cooed at and awed at and goggled over. But sadly our image of ourselves changed as we grew up. We all have different reasons why we view ourselves the way we do. Even though I am not a psychologist I was a hairstylist and I would venture to say I have the listening capabilities of a psychologist. I have noticed that as the years go by, beginning in childhood and teen years, we no longer view ourselves as fearfully and wonderfully made. Instead we see ourselves as broken, timid, worthless, not beautiful, unloveable, helpless. We may not see all of these things at once but circumstances in our lives and lies from the enemy of our souls hinder us from seeing ourselves the way God sees us.
Like looking in a broke cracked mirror we tend to only see fragments of who we are or who God has created us to be and because we look at this broken mirrored reflection everyday we start to think we are broken. We believe what we see. Instead of believing in what God sees.
My daughter Aubrey started crying at breakfast one day because I had just torn and was about to throw away a piece of paper. I didnt think anything of it but she immediately burst into tears, “Mom my picture!”. I looked down at the picture confused- there was a sun, some brown scribbles and then an attempt at writing her name. I did not think this was a picture she had made for anyone. I did not think it was special. Usually she shows off every picture she draws but she never showed me this one. All of her other pictures are full of color and rainbows and flowers and smiling stick figures….So to be honest this picture looked like a mistake. Because I was not the creator of the picture I could not see the beauty in the picture- but she could.
Similarly We are not our creators. God is. And he sees our beauty even when we cannot see it ourselves. We might even think we were a mistake or because we have made so many mistakes God must not see us the same. We have lost our color and vibrancy from the turmoil and stress of this life. Sometimes we even feel that we are useless as we look at our broken fragmented reflection. But dear friend, as His precious creation and as His child He has a list of qualities you have while you sit and read this right now.
*I’m also going to add a disclaimer here because you might be thinking am I God’s child? Maybe you are unsure or you haven’t fully given your life to Jesus, if so please keep reading. When God created human beings in the beginning of the world we were made in His image. Every human on this earth reflects a portion of God’s good creation. Just as there is beauty in a sunset, in the ocean, in a tiger, in a flower…. We were the only part of creation made in the image of God and we are beautiful in that aspect. So even though you may not be a Christian yet or if you are exploring or questioning, please add this to the list of things you can be confident in. Displaying the image of God began the day you were created and formed in your mother’s womb. You were stamped with the DNA of your mom, dad and God-your heavenly Creator.*
You can verify these attributes they are all found in Ephesians chapter 1-2. I challenge you to read these chapters and you may find some additional attributes to add to this list!
As a child of God- You are blessed. You are chosen, you are blameless. You are adopted. You are gifted. You are redeemed. You have received grace. You are predestined. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit. You have an inheritance. You are alive with Christ. You are saved by grace. You are seated with Christ. You are God’s handiwork. You are a citizen of heaven. You are a member of God’s household.
So when you look in the mirror next time or when you feel inadequate or worthless or helpless I want you to remember that your view of yourself is probably like the way I viewed my daughters picture. I didnt see the beauty in it. But instead I want you to view yourself the way God views you. And everything I listed above is how He sees you and the qualities, gifts and titles He has given to you.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made and it says that God holds you in his everlasting arms. And just like a person who beholds the wonder of a sleeping baby in their arms. That is the love God has for you and how He sees you as He holds you in His arms. He sees you and He sees His redeemed creation, and your ten fingers your ten toes. You are his handiwork. You are made in His image and He loves you and thinks of you more than you think of yourself. I saved the picture my daughter gave me. I taped it together in my notebook to remind myself that beauty is not defined in my own eyes. But beauty is defined by our creator. And friend, whether male or female, you are God’s beautiful creation. His beautiful child.
The Lord Bless you and Keep you,
Kara
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