Value In Christ

Recently, I ventured back out on the dating scene again.  Though it was not as successful as I had hoped, I learned the reward of being secure in who I am. 

As little as a year and a half ago, I had next to no security in who I was.  I felt like I needed a man to give me worth, even if it meant giving more than I wanted.  After yet another relationship ended, I decided to take a hiatus from dating and focus on my spiritual walk.  Through finding a church that challenged me to grow, I began to really understand that God values me and wants me to place value on who I am and my relationship with him.

I believe that He wants the same for you.  You do not need anyone to give you value. You are valuable as you are.  After all, "before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Consider this truth.  While this specifically speaks to Jeremiah and his call as a prophet, the same truth applies to each of us.  God knew us, knows us and sees who we have yet to become.  And he consecrated us. 

Will you take this challenge, to seek value in God?  Will you trust that He gives you value and that you are valuable as you are? 

This week, I challenge you to seek God's truth.  Seek what His word says about the value He places on you, His creation.

Here are a few verses to get you started:
Jeremiah 29:11
1 John 2:2

Also, meditate on Christ's crucifixion and why He died for man.

All Things For Good

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

How awesome is that? God works ALL things for good. Any hurt you've experienced falls under this category. That abuse, those harsh words, pain of rejection. God uses all of these for good.

Challenge: Reflect on hurts that you've experienced. How can God use this for good?

Forgiving as Christ forgave

How can I not forgive when Christ suffered more than I know and yet He forgave?

This question has been on my mind the last few days and especially as I meditate on His death on a cross.  Christ suffered false accusations of guilt and rejection be His own people.  He suffered on a tree, crucified with criminals and treated horribly.  And yet, in all of this, He cried out, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34)

How can I not forgive when He forgave those who beat Him and sentenced Him to die?  And how can I not seek His forgiveness and seek to be as Christ who chose to be a sacrifice for our salvation from eternal punishment?

Christ the Savior

Savior: a person who saves, rescues or delivers. (Dictionary.com)

Christ saves us from our sin and from ourselves.  He steps in at our darkest hour and brings out of the darkness into the light. 

In the ten years that I have known Christ personally, He has shown me this multiple times.  The first challenge was deliverance from my sin.  As I grew in relationship with Christ, I learned just how much He saved me and wants to save all people from sin.

Perhaps more personal to me was when I reached a point of such desparation and depression that I turned to thoughts of serious self-harm.  As I struggled to turn away from this depression, I saw God at work in my life.  He stepped in and walked with me through this dark time.  He saved me from myself and from my past.  And He saved me from this to His plan to bring Him glory.

I pray that God would work in your life and reveal His great love and salvation. 

Picture Perfect

Remember school photos?  Parents would dress up each child in the best clothes and send them on their way to school.  A few weeks later, a package would be sent home with the beautiful photos.

A few weeks ago, I browsed through photos of myself as a child and was saddened to see the light gone out in such young eyes.  Such a perfect picture thinly veiled the pain inside a young child.  How often we see this reality.

Fortunately, life goes on and we have a chance to rewrite our story by changing our future.  What are you doing to rewrite your present and future? 

A Reason For The Pain

Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

John 9:3

 

The people had just asked Christ, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he is blind."  In the days of Christ's ministry, any infirmity or disability was viewed as a direct result of sin, whether that person's or the previous generation's.  Nothing just happened. 

When I read this passage, I internally jumped for joy.  I finally had an answer to this question, "why do bad things happen to good people?"  I struggled with this question in a more specific sense: Why did God allow me to be abused?  I knew that He would work good from the situation, but I just couldn't see why God would allow it or what I had done to deserve it.  I finally came to the realization that sometimes bad things just happen.

Bad things happen, but not without a purpose.  God has a plan to show His works through every situation if we would let Him.  Are you willing to let God work through your struggles and trials?  Are you willing to give it to Him that He may be glorified?

 

This does not negate the pain.  I know well how much it will hurt, even years after the fact.  However, to begin to heal, I have learned that I must look to God above who will help me through the pain. 

 

Challenge:  Reflect on a trying time in your life.  If it is recent, consider the ways God could be glorified and what His purpose may be.  If it is a more distant situation, consider what He has done through this difficulty and how He has shown Himself and His great works.

Value After Abuse

As a teen and college student, I struggled with seeing my value when much of my life had been filled with such horrid abuse.  All I could see, especially when I looked at my life through religious lens, was a person so dirty and invaluable.  I saw a person who was as good as trash, not as the valuable person God sees.

When I came to know Christ, I knew that He saw value, after all He died on the cross to save me.  However, this did not sink in until I went through a major depression.  I reached such a low that I considered ending my life and even gave God a deadline to change my mind.  Fortunately, God loves His rebellious and hurting child so much that He gave me such a strong answer that I could not give up. 

So, here I am, four years later.  While it is still a struggle to see the beautiful person God sees, I can now honestly say that God loves me, His beautiful and valuable creation, and that He saves us from our sin and, oftentimes, ourselves.

If you are hurting today, I ask that God would be with you.  Look to Him, and He will be with you, His beloved.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 
                     Jeremiah 1:5