Knowing the God Who Made You and LOVES You. Stop self-rejecting!
/So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them. . . Genesis 1: 27 NASB
The imago Dei [image of God] is that in man
which constitutes him as him-whom-God-loves. John Piper
There is a God Who is the sovereign Creator of all things.
And this sovereign, creator God LOVES His creation.
And who can blame Him, especially this time of year with the flowers and trees blooming and the birds singing, the sun shining and poof-y clouds accenting a gloriously blue sky.
No wonder He said, “It is GOOD!” Not once but six times (Genesis 1: 1-25):
GOD created light . . . “Good!” (vs 4)
GOD created land and sea . . . “Good!” (vs 10)
GOD created plants . . . “Good” (v12)
GOD created the sun, moon, and stars . . . “Good!” (vs 18)
GOD created birds and fish . . . “Good!” (vs 21)
GOD created land animals . . . “Good!” (vs 25)
But He wasn’t finished. He needed to fashion His masterpiece — the epitome of His creation — man & woman together manifesting the Imago Dei, the image of God.
And did you notice God’s reaction when He completed His creation with the crafting of His image bearer?
And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD! (Genesis 1:31)
Not just GOOD . . VERY GOOD!
All because of His images bearers — you and me, dear friends. We are the epitome of God’s creation. We have been made in the image of God — male and female. That’s who we are. And our Creator God LOVES us!
But I fear that we humans on this earth, who are God’s image bearers (whether we realize it or not), are more characterized by self-rejection than self-acceptance. Why is that I wonder?
We don’t like something about ourselves. Maybe it’s our personality, our gender, our physical stature, our performance. Maybe it’s where we live, our family of origin, how much money we have, how “spiritual” we are . . .And we assume these are what give us our value. But they are based on LIES we believe because of how others have treated us or LIES we are being fed by our culture, our friends, our school, our leaders, and even family members and church leaders.
One of my favorite devotional writers speaks to these very issues and causes us to look self-rejection square in the face:
Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody." ... [My dark side says,] I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence. (Henri Nouwen)
This is a real eye-opener, isn’t it? And in a very real sense, our self rejection is rejection of our loving Creator God who calls us His Beloved Image Bearer.
So dear friend, what LIE is it you are believing that is causing you to live in self-rejection rather than embracing who God made you to be? Reject the LIE and wholeheartedly live from who you are In union with the Living Creator God.
And if you do not yet know Him as your Savior from sin and Lord of your life, I invite you to visit this website, Navigator Bridge Illustration . You can also read my gospel story here.
Lord, I embrace your design for me, Your image bearer. Dispel the lies I have been believing and teach me to walk in Your truth and Your LOVE everyday. I receive your words calling me Your Beloved.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
See how very much our Father LOVES us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Colossians 3:1 NLT
