Wednesday, August 9, 2023 Some material taken from The Final Four
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10
Finding Peace with Yourself
Perhaps one of the greatest struggles we have as imperfect human beings is seeing ourselves through God’s eyes. He loves us with an unfathomable love - more than we could ever imagine. We look in the mirror and see only our faults. We find our identity in earthly roles and earthly things and we believe what they say about us over what the God of all creation says about us. We seek our value in our work (not a bad thing - but it cannot be the whole of our identity), roles, physical attributes, passions, and what others say about us. With social media we compare ourselves to the false fairytales of what others filter to the world. But when we look inward, we often feel like we will never measure up. The best news is that we don’t have to measure up to the One who created us, and the only One who can tell us who we really are.
His Handiwork – We are His personal handiwork. He created each one of us unique and special - in His image. So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. Genesis 1:27
For Good works – Things God has planned, in advance, good works for us to do with Him, in His power, and for His glory. These good works will manifest in our lives in different ways such as in relationships; gifts; family; friends; children; spouse; church, and more. We should always be aware of our “surroundings” and how God might use us for His good works. These good works have eternal significance.
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…Romans 12:3
Sober judgment – Here the word sober means sensible, reliable, not emotional. We need to be able to reflect, see what needs to be brought back into line, without wanting to give up on life completely because we only see ourselves as failures. We should not think too high of ourselves, but not too low either.
Do you believe what the enemy says about you or what God says about you?
You are not your past or your failures. You are not what your enemy says about you. You are not who you think you are on your worst day. You are who God says you are.
What does God say about us?
God says we are His beloved child, chosen, called, valuable – His workmanship, redeemed, His friend, His ambassador, a member of the body of Christ, exceedingly loved, sons and daughters of the King. Next time you look in the mirror and hear the lies of the enemy, repeat this over and over to remind yourself who you really are.
