Man in the Mirror...

(... or woman :)
**As posted on Between Trees and Sky

Type in "Know your worth" into Google. What you get back is a list of Salary Wizard Calculators and Women's Empowerment blurbs. Yikes. Neither of those really resound in me. Clearly I'm not so naive to think that my self-worth is strictly the amount of money I could be making, nor do I think that because I'm a woman, I'm supposed to super-inflate my standards and expectations to an unrealistic level that leaves me disappointed with everything and everyone.

But I personally believe that the concept of knowing your worth as a person and as a child of God (as cliche as that sounds) is directly related to your level of effectiveness in the kingdom. These seem quite unrelated to most people, especially Christians. Anytime I've mentioned anything like that to believers they look back at me with this awestruck expression. I haven't really uncovered anything novel, but maybe I've simplified it and stated it so directly that there's no mistaking the point.

Think for example what you "see" when you look into a mirror for, oh say, five minutes. I know that's kind of a long time to spend just looking at yourself. But what I've realized is that, on days when I'm struggling to see myself as anything more than an overweight screw up with bad skin and awkward fashion sense, I can't look myself in the eyes. But on the days when I can honestly say that I am beautiful and I have great and positive God-things inside that make me dynamic and unique, I can manage through those five minutes of self-eye-gazing.

If we are believers and have such a hard time finding positive qualities (both internal AND external) about ourselves, how in the universe can we expect to have the exciting and dynamic personal ministry that we believe God purposed for us? I say we can't. I sometimes think maybe I can just get by with feeling mediocre about myself. You know that whole "well I'm not a horrible person but I clearly cannot do get anything right!" What is that saying? First of all, it's a lie. No, I'm NOT a horrible person, and No, I cannot get EVERYTHING right. But can I get some things right? Certainly. Let's be realistic.

I believe what it says in 1 Corinthians 3:16, "You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple."

Did you catch that? NO ONE WILL GET BY WITH VANDALIZING GOD's TEMPLE. Not even the guys who are the groundskeepers for the temples (meaning us). No one will get by with it. So why, if we know that scripture says we won't get away with it, do we continue to vandalize our beautiful and ornate temples that God himself built us to be? Should we fix the places in our selves where we've developed character flaws and poor habits? Certainly, that's not vandalization, that's revitalization! Should we be quick to make improvements and additions when necessary, reasonable, and genuinely desired? Again, Certainly! Adding new dimensions to who we are, what we can do or be, and the things we enjoy can augment the temple God built and can be a wonderful element to it's beautification. We cannot, however, pretend to be things we aren't or make excuses for (or deny) our personal flaws both physical and spiritually/personality-wise.

Using any sort of defense mechanism, even if it's semi-honest is validating the lie that what you are or are not, is not good enough. This gives the enemy a foothold to convince you of other lies about who you are and what you're capable of.

Soldiers who were drafted weren't always confident that they could do what was being required of them. Neither were they sure that they even WANTED to do those things, much less to do them well. Those men knew that they weren't selected because someone believed in them and saw a specific purpose in them. They knew that the only reason they were in the military at all was because of a need for body count. They didn't need (insert name here) from Augusta, Georgia who made a 1400 on the SAT and who shot perfectly in their entrance exam, has perfect health/ physical shape, can program computers and wrestle bears into submission. They just needed all the guys who fell sort-of within a given age range. Talk about questioning your placement!

But it says in 1 Peter 2:9-10, "But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."
And GOD says, "You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you." John 15:16

That spells it out that God chose each of us for a purpose and dream specific to us individually, but intertwined in to help facilitate God's overall dream! Does THAT not speak value and worth!? I think it does. That's the thing I try to remember on those hard days when looking myself in the eye seems nearly impossible. God created me for a reason. He fashioned me together this way and He had every one of my days planned out before even the first one had passed. He thinks tenderly of me and sees me as great! I can't escape His love and I can't hide from His sight. He loves me. (Psalm 139)

When we can look at ourselves both physically and metaphorically and say confidently: I am loved. I have a purpose specific to me and I can be a huge danger for the enemy!, we not only empower ourselves by our Faith in Christ to be able to do that work that was specifically set before us, but we silently empower others to do the same.

There's a quote that helps remind me of this and I've used it for several people when they don't see the point, or sense the urgency, of becoming who God has outlined for us to be. It's from Akeelah and the Bee and the character is quoting from Marianne Williamson (but is often attributed to Nelson Mandela), but anyway, it says this:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.


Effective believers believe in the power of the Spirit through them. It's not a cocky thing or a self-important kind of thing. It's an understanding that God made us and HE positions us exactly where He wants us so that we can make a great and huge difference in winning souls for the kingdom and even in simply softening hearts to the idea of Christ. But we have to think that we are worth something. I love what it says in Isaiah talking about Jacob and how and why he was chosen,

'But now, God's Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.
So don't be afraid: I'm with you.
I'll round up all your scattered children,
pull them in from east and west.
I'll send orders north and south:
'Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
yes, personally formed and made each one.'" Isaiah 43: 1-7

If you want to be effective at whatever God has directed you to set your hand to, you have to start thinking of yourself as a holy priesthood, a chosen generation, a redeemed glory. Not that you in yourself are great or can be great, you can't. But that Christ in you can be the difference and can set you up to accomplish gigantic things for His namesake. It starts with looking in the mirror...