In 2 Corinthians 5:17 the Bible reads that we are “new creations” if we are followers of Christ. Have you ever wondered about the way God feels about you? We can be very hard on ourselves at times. We often struggle with our identity. This week, we’ll turn to God’s Word to find out how He views us and how we can find our identity in Him.

Beautiful

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Psalm 139:14, NIV

Do you struggle with self-image? I think it’s a common struggle for many of us. When I meet women through my ministry for single women, this is something we often talk about. It’s also something I personally battle. I struggle with comparing myself to others and then mentally listing my faults as I see them.

In my book, Truth, Lies, and the Single Woman, I wrote about the standard of beauty. For the guys out there, you can substitute “attractive” for beautiful. It’s so easy to let external forces determine our self-image. If someone tells me I’m pretty, I suddenly feel beautiful. If someone mentions that I look tired, I feel like an ugly duckling. During my single years, if a guy paid attention to me, I felt beautiful. For years, I allowed my standard of beauty to be determined by others.

It’s important to remember that God is the One who sets our standard of beauty. In today’s verse, we learn that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God created you exactly the way you are for a specific purpose. He wove you together. You are his masterpiece. He ordained all of your days before the earth was ever formed. God also knew the parts of yourself that would cause you sadness and struggle.

In Truth, Lies, and the Single Woman, I challenged my readers to try something each morning. For one week, when you wake up each morning, I want you to look in the mirror and say, “God created me in His image. He designed me exactly right because He does not make mistakes. I am beautiful.”

Of course, we’re not only talking about outward beauty. The Bible indicates that our beauty should come from another source. “You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God” (1 Peter 3:4, NLT).

Today, remember that you are created in the image of God. Let’s honor our Creator by loving the person He created and cultivating the inner beauty of our spirits, not just our bodies.

Seeking Him,

Allison