By Erin Elizabeth Austin
Can you keep a secret? I, Erin Elizabeth Austin, am broken. I’m messed up, rundown, worn-out, and have failed more times than I can count. My body is sick with multiple diseases, and it often keeps me from doing the things a healthy adult can do. My church attendance is hit-and-miss because my body struggles to move in the morning. I often have to stay home rather than go out with family and friends because I don’t have the energy. Because of medical bills, I have no money. And I often let the laundry pile up because it requires energy and strength I don’t have to spare. In a nutshell, I’m not good enough.
But I’ll tell you something I've learned over the years – none of these things matter! God doesn’t care about any of those things. He doesn’t judge us according to the world’s standards. He doesn’t look down from Heaven and view us with disappointment and frustration. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend. Why? It’s because of what Jesus did on the cross. His death defeated more than just sin; it covers our failures, our brokenness, our sickness, and even our inability to do all the requirements we feel we should do as a Christian, such as attending church regularly and going on mission trips. We are good enough because Christ is good enough.
Yet that’s a hard truth to understand, and it’s even harder to accept. It’s easy to focus on what is wrong with us – to see what we can’t do. But that’s not how we should think. We need to think about all that’s right with us. God created you and loves you exactly as you are. Just as you wouldn't want your child to focus on his faults and weaknesses, the same is true with God and us. Don’t insult His creation (yourself) by talking bad about it. Walk confidently in who you are and be thankful for who He created you to be.
Can you keep a secret? I, Erin Elizabeth Austin, am broken. I’m messed up, rundown, worn-out, and have failed more times than I can count. My body is sick with multiple diseases, and it often keeps me from doing the things a healthy adult can do. My church attendance is hit-and-miss because my body struggles to move in the morning. I often have to stay home rather than go out with family and friends because I don’t have the energy. Because of medical bills, I have no money. And I often let the laundry pile up because it requires energy and strength I don’t have to spare. In a nutshell, I’m not good enough.
But I’ll tell you something I've learned over the years – none of these things matter! God doesn’t care about any of those things. He doesn’t judge us according to the world’s standards. He doesn’t look down from Heaven and view us with disappointment and frustration. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend. Why? It’s because of what Jesus did on the cross. His death defeated more than just sin; it covers our failures, our brokenness, our sickness, and even our inability to do all the requirements we feel we should do as a Christian, such as attending church regularly and going on mission trips. We are good enough because Christ is good enough.
Yet that’s a hard truth to understand, and it’s even harder to accept. It’s easy to focus on what is wrong with us – to see what we can’t do. But that’s not how we should think. We need to think about all that’s right with us. God created you and loves you exactly as you are. Just as you wouldn't want your child to focus on his faults and weaknesses, the same is true with God and us. Don’t insult His creation (yourself) by talking bad about it. Walk confidently in who you are and be thankful for who He created you to be.
Ephesians 2:10 is a verse God often brings to mind when I find myself struggling with my self-worth. It says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” The original word for workmanship is more accurately translated as “a work of art; a masterpiece.” Stop and think about that a moment. God says you are His masterpiece. The God who sees and knows everything, including your many flaws and failures, looks at you and says, “That’s MY child! He/she is beautiful. I love her so much and I’m so proud of who she is! She’s a masterpiece and I wouldn't trade her for all the money in the world.”
That puts a different spin on things, doesn’t it? In a world with impossible standards in which we can never measure up, God sees us for who we really are, and He says we’re more than good enough. He knows we’re broken, wrecked, messed-up, and still He says we’re good enough because of Christ’s work on the cross. We are a constant recipient of His grace, love, mercy, and favor. We belong to God!
So rather than judge ourselves according to the world’s standards, don’t you think it’s time for us to view ourselves the way God does?
“Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out; You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” ~ Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)
© June 5, 2014
So rather than judge ourselves according to the world’s standards, don’t you think it’s time for us to view ourselves the way God does?
“Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out; You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” ~ Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)
© June 5, 2014
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