It's All About You, Baby!

by Susanne Dietze

Today, it’s all about you. (How often do you hear that?)

And it's about me, too. Not too long ago, I wrote a piece about praising God, getting our attention off of ourselves and onto our Creator. But today I’m tilting the looking glass back on ourselves.

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Has your doctor ever told you to periodically look in the mirror? Not the way we do when we put in contact lenses or apply makeup, but to examine our bodies. Check for lumps and dimples. I hate doing this, because I don’t want to see lumps and dimples, of course. But when I look, I also see unattractive things: stretch marks and scars and a crooked nose. Granted, I earned those stretch marks, and the scars serve as testimony to God’s faithfulness to heal me. And the broken spots, like my nose, are things I was born with. Part of being me.

I don’t always have the same mixture of dismay and victory when I gaze at my reflection in the spiritual mirror. Looking reveals the same sorts of imperfections that I see in the physical mirror: stretches, scars, and brokenness. While my head knows that many of those stretches reveal change and the scars are proof of God’s hand in my life, I still see a woman who wonders if some of my wounds will ever be healed, who feels she doesn’t deserve God’s salvation, who questions His love.

Do you ever hear this voice? No matter how long you’ve put your trust in God? You are a failure. You talk the talk but don't walk the walk. You are a slave to sin. Defined by a deed that will never go away. Ugly, unlovable, out of step, and forgettable.

I won’t presume to know what’s come between you and God, what’s broken your heart or left you in pieces. But I can tell you as a fellow struggler that God does not speak words of loathing to us. He doesn’t define us by our acts, our looks, our weaknesses. He defines us by His love.

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This is not about what you’ve done, but what’s been done for you
This is not about where you’ve been, but where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel, but He felt to forgive you
And what He felt to make you new.
You are more than the choices you have made
You are more the sum of your past mistakes
You are more than the problems you create
You’ve been remade*

I love that song, "You Are More" from Tenth Avenue North. It cuts to the heart of how I view myself, reminding me how God views me.

So on those days when you and I may wonder how anyone, much less God, can love us or forgive us, here’s a tiny list of reminders to set us back on the right path. Straight from God’s heart to you and to me.

You are:

1. Precious (Isaiah 34:4)
2. Of great value (Luke 12:7)
3. Made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); fearfully and wonderfully (Ps 139:13-16); God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10); the work of God’s hands (Psalms 38:8); formed in the womb and known before birth (Jeremiah 1:5)
4. Loved (John 3:16, Psalm 103:10-12, Isaiah 34:4, Song of Solomon 2:4, Lamentations 3:22-24, Hosea 14:4, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:38-39, 1 John 3:1)
5. Chosen (1 Peter 2:9), even before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5)
6. Part of a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9, Colossians 3:12)
7. The apple of His eye (Psalm 17:6-8, Zechariah 2:8b)
8. Never alone (Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 43:1-2, Hebrews 13:5)
9. A child of God (1 John 3:1, Galatians 3:26), adopted through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:4-5)
10. Forgiven (Psalm 103:10-12, Romans 8:1, Ephesians 4:32, 1 John 1:9)
11. Redeemed (Psalm 34:22, Isaiah 43:1-2, Colossians 1:14)
12. A co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17)
13. A new Creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
14. A branch on the Vine of Christ (John 15:5)
15. A temple of the Holy Spirit, where God dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16)
16. Rejoiced over (Zephaniah 3:17)
17. In God’s flock (Psalm 95:6-7, 1 Peter 5:2)
18. Supported and consoled in distress (Psalm 17:6-8, Psalm 34:18, Psalm 94:18-19, Romans 8:26-27)
19. An important member in the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)
20. A son of the light and of the day (1 Thessalonians 5:5)
21. A Friend of Christ (John 15:14-15)
22. The Bride of Christ, as part of the Church (Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:3-5, Hosea 2:19-20, John 3:28-30, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Revelation 19:7)
23. Inscribed on the palm of God's hand (Isaiah 49:16)

After the Question of the Day, you'll find the video to "You are More" by Tenth Avenue North. Watching it, I was blessed in a powerful way and I spent time considering what I'd write on the chalkboard and then how I'd feel as I witnessed -- well, I won't spoil the video. But if you take a minute to watch the video, I pray that you'll be blessed, and the next time you look in the mirror, you see what God sees: His forgiven, redeemed, cleansed, loved, precious, and gorgeous child.

Question of the Day:

Everyone has something they'd change about their appearance. But what's your favorite thing about how you look?




* "You Are More" by Mike Donehey and Jason Ingram, 2010, Sony/ATV Timber Publishing/West Main Music/Formerly Music/Windsor Hill Music

Susanne Dietze has written love stories set in the nineteenth century since she was in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others to the glory of God. Married to a pastor and the mom of two school-age kids, Susanne loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and spending time with family and friends. Her work has finaled in the 2010 Genesis Contest, the 2009 Gotcha! Contest, and the Touched By Love Contest, 2008 and 2009. You can visit her on her personal blog, Tea and a Good Book, http://www.susannedietze.blogspot.com/.