Tap To Retry

                          

    Some of ya'll be like I'm not pretty enough, handsome enough, skinny enough, muscular enough, good enough, cool enough, creative enough, chill enough...the list goes on.  Genesis 1:27 - "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." Some of ya'll need to tap to retry until you load not your image, not the world's image, not your friends' image, not your enemies' image BUT GOD'S image. YOU are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made! Now let's be even more real here. Everybody on this earth has struggled with self-image at least once. You are not immune. Your self-image is something that can make you or break you. If you never believe in yourself then you're never going to DO, whatever that may be.

    We know from John 10:10 that the enemy has come to steal, kill, and destroy. You better believe he's going to target your self-esteem! If he can cause your confidence to cave then he can get you to fall into the traps of comparison, condemnation, and competition which are not of God. Whoa. Now don't get discouraged just yet. First we need to realize just how amazing we really are. Let's take it back to the last paragraph: "YOU are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made." 

    We're fearfully made? Well we are also told to fear God, right? (Luke 1:50, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Psalm 33:8, Proverbs 1:7 etc.) Most of us know this kind of fear means being in awe of God by respecting and loving Him. So we can make the connection that us being fearfully made doesn't mean God's afraid of us, but that wow! We are the most beautiful creatures to Him (or handsome for you strapping men of God) and He loves us! I know you guys aren't stupid and can figure out what wonderfully means, but just take a second to soak that all in. Crazy, right? God is in awe of US! 

    It reminds me of my reaction to the leaves changing colors this time of year. The once green leaves are now dipped in gold, covered in a blanket of scarlet, and burning with bright orange fire all because the season has changed. I take thousands of pictures of the trees this time of year and I'm not joking! I absolutely can't get enough pictures even if many of those look the same. It's breathtaking. As humans we're constantly changing as well, and hopefully for those of us who are Christians we're changing to look more and more like Jesus. But when we go through an easy breezy season we forget how to fight and then hard times creep up on us. We forget to make war in the spiritual realm. If you recognize that you're a child of the Most High and you know that in the end He wins then why not fight?

    The cool thing about trees is that the brightness of their leaves' colors are based on the temperature and the delay of the leaves changing color is based upon the amount of rain we get that year. The rain that year might be uncomfortable and the leaves may shrivel up on the tree's branches, but the beauty of change ends up coming sooner.. The warmer temperature might be uncomfortable, but the brighter the leaves end up being because of it! So hang on to that tree, lovely ones. We may be going through a rough time of insecurity in ourselves, in what God is calling us to do or if He even has something for us, and we may be going through many other different types of challenges that just seem so hopeless to us but look how much more beautiful we will be because of it if we can only hang on to that tree.

"Staying the same produces pain and negative consequences while change may produce pain, but the results are good!" - Elaina Grace Morgan

   

    However, it doesn't stop there! WHATEVER challenges you've faced, WHATEVER challenges you are facing know that you can use that experience to help someone who is going through the same thing. The challenges you're facing are not only for you to be more beautiful and able to help others; they're also to make you look more like Jesus! They're to make you STRONGER. So next time a thought comes into your head, next time a person discourages you, next time Satan screams in your ear whether it's about who God made you to be or where God wants to take you start declaring your confidence. Count it ALL joy! If you believe in yourself and above all, believe in God to do the things He wants to do in you and through you then you will see it happen. Remember, knowing your worth isn't thinking that you're more worthy than anybody else and it isn't thinking you're less worthy than anybody else. God made YOU unique. There's NOBODY else like you!

James 1:2-8 - "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."

*Challenge yourself - Spend time with your Lord in worship. Listen to Oceans by Hillsong United, Hold Us Together by Matt Maher, Who I Am by Casting Crowns and Redeemer by Nicole C. Mullen. Don't just sing the words, sing them from your heart and believe them.