Life’s Too Short Not to Love who God Made Us to Be!

So, this morning I was reading about the Apostle Paul, who wrote a great deal of the new testament, and was one of the most instrumental people to push the gospel of Jesus Christ. I had noticed something about Paul that I hadn’t noticed before. He mentioned in 2 Corinthians 10:7-11 how there were those who looked at him after the outward appearance that said that his letters were weighty and powerful, but his presence was weak and when he spoke in person it wasn’t that good. (KJV)

When I saw that in the Bible I said Paul and I have somethings in common. First of all he is a single man of God as I am a single woman of God. He is judged according to his outward appearance as being weak. I am also judged by appearance as being weak because I carry a humble spirit. I don’t seek to be the center of attention. I have that Lecrae I can play the background type of vibe, but when necessary I address situations that may place me in the center of attention.

Of course, Apostle Paul corrected the naysayers and represented who he was as a person regardless of what people thought about him or saw him as. I thought about how so many people guys and girls are in and out of dating relationships looking for someone to validate them. We look for people to tell us we are pretty, we are desirable, we are worth being around, we are worthy of their time and all the while some of us don’t know these things for ourselves.

The danger in looking to people or relationships to validate you is that as easy as a person can offer validation to you they can just as easily strip away that validation and any self-worth from you because you allowed yourself to idolize their opinion of you instead of God’s opinion of you. At that point, those relationships can easily turn into manipulation where a person sees the worth that you place on their opinion of you as a need that you have in which can be manipulated to their advantage. I’ve experienced this and do not intend on experiencing it anymore.

People will always have an opinion of you. Most of the time if people are judging by the outward appearance they form wrong opinions about others, opinions based off of superficial and unfounded observances. People may say you are too quiet, too short, too dark-skinned, too light-skinned, too goofy, too serious, but those people cannot see what is in your heart neither did they make you.

The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. This scripture has been used as somewhat cliche’; however, it is a very important scripture that means God did not just make us in a fly by night kind of a way. God put special effort and special thought into making each person into something wonderful. Wonderful means something that others will wonder at and just be like wow.

You don’t have to look like Beyonce to be a wow-factor, and guys you don’t have to look like Trey Songz to be a wow-factor. All you have to do is to love yourself. To accept yourself the way that God made you. If you’ve had trouble with that then join the club. I believe that every human being has had some sort of trouble with accepting something about themselves, but don’t stop at realizing you have an issue with yourself. Take it to God in prayer. Ask God to show you yourself the way he sees you. Ask God to help you to learn to love yourself. If you have an issue with your own style, ask God to give you your own style that you will feel comfortable and confident with. Finally, ask God to show you how what you view as a weakness can be used as a strength that gives God glory.

Many of the things that we may see as weaknesses about ourselves are actually a strength in some way. People who don’t talk a lot don’t get involved in drama. They may be strong thinkers who later on in life turn out to be great teachers. People, who talk a lot can be exhorters or encourages. Those who are goofy can spread the joy of the Lord and lift someones spirits. I’m sure if I tried I can find a million men and women who are exclusively attracted to a dark-skinned person or light-skinned person. That all depends on preference. You never know what God had in mind when he made you and the way that you see yourself today may develop into something even greater tomorrow. We grow in grace, development, character, styles and all types of ways. Enjoy the process and the ride of life in your own shoes without trying to change yourself to be like someone else wants you to be. When you learn to love yourself, you can then love others more freely and genuinely.

You see men look at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) He looks at what he has put inside of you. He knows who you are and when you are ready just like Apostle Paul he will give you a revelation of who you are. (Acts 9) Although, you may be going wrong by limiting yourself to how people see you. God can change your name and give you a new identity. The identity that you always we’re but never knew. Apostle Paul probably never thought that he would be preaching the gospel prior to his conversion, but when he got a revelation from God on who he was and what God had called him to do; he was able to step into his calling boldly, and do what God has called him to do

God wants us to be bold and confident in who he has made us to be. Therefore, we as singles and even married people should not use all of our lives seeking approval from one another, but from the one who made us. We should not get into dating relationships because of the insecurities that we have about ourselves and looking for those insecurities to be validated, but instead get them validated by God before we enter into a relationship. That way once we enter into a relationship we can provide some stability to the relationship instead of just seeking approval.

What are some of the things that you have learned about yourself? Has the things that you learned about yourself caused you to have a more positive outlook about yourself? Are you believing what people think about you or what God thinks about you?