"Who Are We In God?"

I was reading an excerpt from the book "Pure" by Christian Artist Rebecca St. James, and it really touched me. I hope it reaches out to all of you too.

We live in a culture that speaks the sermon of selfishness all the time. It places so much emphasis on self-help, self-worth, self-this, self-that. Because many people spend much of their time trying to please others, they're uncomfortable in their own skin and don't know who they are. Unfortunately, they derive their sense of worth based on what they do or don't do for others. It's all based on a false and conditional love. We can get so wrapped up in our selfishness that we can't see beyond ourselves to find our worth in God—who we are in Him.

Several years ago I embarked on a five-week long life-changing experience in Switzerland. I needed spiritual, emotional, and physical recuperation, and I found it at L'Abri (which means shelter), a community study center where Christians and non-Christians can seek honest answers about God and His purposes for their lives. It was there that the Lord spoke to me of my God-worth to the point that it was replacing my self-worth. Before this experience I don't think I had ever really discovered the sense of wholeness in God that I felt there.

One of the things I had to confront in my life was the issue of perfectionism. When you are a perfectionist you tend to either push yourself all the time to be better, or you are in failure mode and about to give up, believing that you'll never succeed. My tendency was to live with a sense that God was disappointed in me—that I was not good enough. Through study and prayer and time alone with Him, the Lord assured me that I am loved and secure. I know that I'm His princess, accepted and cherished.

If you've read The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, or have seen the movies, you're familiar with the creature Gollum and his obsession with "my precious," the ring. He was willing to do anything to keep it, and then went to great lengths in an attempt to reclaim it. Ultimately, his selfish fascination with the treasure cost him his life. Unlike Gollum, God's love for us is purely selfless because He was willing to give up what's most important to Him—His only Son—to redeem you. He cherishes you as His precious creation. The apostle Paul put it this way:

"Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him" (Romans 5:6-8, The Message).

How much time do you spend in the morning each morning thinking about how others will perceive you based on what you look like today? How could you spend some of that time contemplating your worth in God's eyes? Look in the mirror and realize how precious you are to Him.

Rebecca St. James

God loved us so much He was willing to not only sacrifice His Son for us, but He also forgave us all our sins.

"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18

Here I am Lord, and I'm drowning
in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me; I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where you found me and it echoes in my mind,
Keeps me awake tonight

I know you cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
and I stand before you now, as
As though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away
From you leaving me this way

Jesus can you show me just how far the east is from the west
Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of your mercy I find rest, you know just how far the East is from the West:
From one scarred hand to the other.

I start the day the war begins - endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away, from you leaving me this way...

I know you've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
Can't live by what I feel but by the Truth your Word reveals,
I'm not holding on to you but you're holding on to me,
You're holding on to me

(Casting Crowns, "East To West")

As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

God loves you so much, He sent His Son to die for you. That my friends is the definition of real true love. Stop trying so hard to be someone else. If you're running from God, and searching for something to fill you up, know now that God is waiting for you to come to Him, and He will give you the peace and rest you need.*

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Thankful for His Love,
Whitney