"Then God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.' So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (NLT)
How often do we forget that we are intended to be "little Christs"? In a world of self depravity and self centered-ness, we often see little to no good in ourselves, when in reality we resemble the God Creator of the universe Himself.
How can this be?
How did we fall from being small saviors to hating our existences, our bodies, our thoughts, our being, our everything, coming directly from God Himself? How could we overlook such a gigantic detail?
Then again, how did we lose favor with God by eating fruit?
I digress. God created you to be like Him. He calls you to "be ye perfect" and live a life pleasing to Him. Are you? The following passage reveals a little insight into God's plan for us:
"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he has purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding." (Ephesians 1:3-8, NLT)
The God who made you "so wonderfully complex" and whose "workmanship is marvelous" (selections from Psalm 139, NLT) designed you to be a partaker of His Life and a steward of everything on Earth. As your local news channel will report, we have screwed this up by flipping the bird at God at doing whatever we please, not what pleases Him. God wants you to have pleasure, He just happens to know in what context you should have it because He's God. This brings me to a secondary point: Don't get an inflated ego because you're a little Christ. Follow His example - he was shamed before humanity to save you. But back to my original thesis - God has designed you for eternal life and joy and glory. I'm pretty sure the Bible doesn't lie. Why don't you think of yourself like God does? Whatever happened to "confident humility"? Go read Sun Stand Still, pages 114 and 115.
Never let the fear of inadequacy eclipse your faith for Christ.
