God has created us, called us, died for us, thought about us constantly and preciously (and still does and will continue to), and He loves you and values you because of who you are. These are all thoughts I recently spoke to junior high students about. The cool part about them is, that they are not just for junior high students, and in fact, these are truths about each and every one of us, God's beloved children. God is great, and so are we. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and in the same way God longs for us and is great, we have a God-shaped hole in us that longs for Him, and we are great because of Him. However, until we have that hole filled up with God, it is hard to comprehend our value in Christ at all--even then, it is a long-term process of truly understanding our value and why we should have self-respect.
Why am I so revved up about this? Why am I blogging about this?
Back in middle school, I struggled with filling this God shaped hole. I tried seeking for affirmation from my parents and performing in sports, instruments, and academics. However, based on just a few simple words my parents said or in some cases didn't say, I went searching elsewhere for validation and the feelings that come from knowing someone values you. Sadly, I leaned towards dating to try and fill up the void inside of me that so longed for intimacy. Although I knew about God and believed in what the Bible said and what Christ had done for me, I was not truly in a relationship with Him. I was still doing my own thing obviously. And it seemed to work for a while.
A few months in, however, the truth set me free. Dating* led to heart ache.I remembered verses from church about God being a healer, and I ran to Him. As I began to read His Word fairly consistently, I learned truths about who I was in Christ, and how valuable I was to God my Heavenly Father. It made no difference what I had accomplished--good or bad. All that mattered was that He loved me and He wanted me to know it. I don't have to perform via sports, academics, or music to be good enough. I should want to glorify God by doing these things, but they are not where I place my value. I place it in my finite, faithful, loving, great God who sent His Son to die for me, because He already saw me as worth dying for, even in the midst of doing so much wrong and running from Him towards things like dating guys or playing sports. I didn't have to be good enough for Him, but because He died on the cross, I was made good enough. I was made righteous the moment I chose Him and accepted what He did for me and received the love He so longed to lavish on me.
So. This is a little bit of my story. And I am so excited to say how much value I hold and how much I respect myself. I do not walk in a cocky sense, but in a confident sense of who I am in Christ, knowing that I was created by the Maker of the universe. When I say self-respect, I mean wearing clothes that show that I am waiting for marriage--that I am not a prize easily won by just any man. My boyfriend and I do not even kiss yet because we are waiting until engagement, because we value and respect each other. I do not allow myself to do certain things or watch certain movies or eat or drink too much and work out too little. Why? All because I value who I am. My body is a temple--GOD'S temple. Jesus Christ lives in me. My body is a living sacrifice, sacred and holy, and I need to honor God with it. I need to take care of it. I need to take care of myself emotionally and guard my heart. This all stems from a heart that knows her Creator. I get it. I'm important. And I am going to treat myself like a daughter of the King. This is the kind of self-respect I pray and long that every woman who reads this will grasp. And perhaps I have a wider audience than just young women. Either way, that is my prayer and longing that you begin to understand how wide, deep, long, and high is the love of God (Ephesians 3:18-19)
*My definition of dating here means not really in any exclusive relationship, but instead skipping from guy to guy, not really having anything set in stone. It was and still is a very emotionally upsetting process.
Verses/Passages to look up:
Psalm
139:13-14: For you [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my
mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your
works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm
139:15-16: My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret
place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my
unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before
one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:17-18: How precious to me are your
thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would
outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you
Ephesians
3:17b-19: …And I pray that, you, being rooted and established in love, may have
power together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high
and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that
you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Luke 7:36-50: Story of the woman and the alabaster
box
Romans
5:8: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
1
Corinthians 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and
that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God
will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that
temple.
