Wonderfully Made

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” – Psalm 139:13-14

When you look in the mirror, do you see someone valuable and loved or do you feel worthless and unloved?

There are a lot of people who struggle with self-image issues. There’s a lot in the world that seeks to beat us down. Even just looking through social media can cause people to feel terrible.

There are also those in the world who seek to help with people’s self-image, but their advice is noticeably self-focused.

“You be you.”
“You are beautiful the way you are.”
“I’m good enough, smart enough, and people love me.”

There are two big problems with this approach, though.

Either it pushes you towards self-righteousness or it fails and leads to worse depression.
It’s based in a lie. The Bible tells us that we are not OK. In and of ourselves, we are sinners.

What Does God Say?

The Bible doesn’t ignore our sinful state. It addresses it through Jesus. Yes, you are a sinner, but you are also a saint, forgiven by Jesus death and resurrection.

God tells you to look outside of yourself. He tells you that you are loved and valuable not because you are such a great person or you look good or anything else in yourself. He says you are loved and valuable because He made you and loves you. So, when we are honest when looking at ourselves and see the sin and shame, we can still say that we are loved and valuable because of what God has said and done.

God also tells us to deny ourselves. “You be you,” invites you to continue in your sin, maybe even dig in deeper. The Bible says, rather, to deny yourself and seek Him.

You Are Loved and Valued
No one should look in the mirror and feel unloved or unvalued. You are. God has said you are. God has shown you that He loves you and values you enough to die for you. He made you and continues to remake you in the image of Christ.

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for making me. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me. Defend me against the accusations of the devil, the world, and my own self. Remind me that I am who You say I am. I am Yours, fearfully and wonderfully made.

Amen.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Kurt

Wonderfully Made

Faith Lutheran Church in Wesley Chapel, FL serving Lutz, Zephyrhills, Land O’ Lakes, and New Tampa, FL