In Christ - I am created in the image of God

I am created in the image of God by Him...

Genesis 1:26,27 Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, in Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Psalms 119:73 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn Your commands. 

Psalms 139:13-16 For You 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.  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.

SHARON FOSTER – Page-A-Day Email Calendar – April 26, 2011

“To dye or not to dye, that is the question. Blonde or brunette? Should my hair be braided, straightened, or curled? Should I get myself tucked, stretched, or tweaked?

“Every morning, I play a little game with myself: I avoid looking into the mirror. What difference does it make? I ask myself. Shouldn’t I be beyond all that—worrying about my appearance? What do my looks have to do with who I really am? It doesn’t matter, right?

“Except that it does matter. A career change from civil servant to writer has meant TV appearances and speaking engagements. After having seen a little too much of me on a video monitor, I am now more conscientious about exercising, my diet, and my wardrobe. Unfortunately, sometimes I worry that I worry too much about it all. Hence, the looking-glass game.

“When I do find myself looking into the mirror, I notice how thin my eyebrows are, that my pores could be smaller, that I have lost less weight than I had planned to lose. And each day there seems to be more and more gray hair on my head.

“I sigh. Then a thought occurs to me: I’m perfect. Maybe I’m not what TV or film producers think is perfect, but I am perfect. I’m exactly the right height and weight. I’m exactly who and what I need to be to do the work that God intends for me to do. Maybe someone I will encounter today needs someone who looks just like me doing just what I’m doing so that he or she can be encouraged or inspired.

“I look in the mirror and smile at my reflection. This time, I’ve really won the game.

Lord, help me to see myself with Your eyes and be grateful.”

Every woman I know has at least one time in their life felt like the “ugly duckling.”  We compare ourselves to the world’s image of beauty – and unless you’re an airbrushed super-model, you don’t come close to measuring up.  It can be discouraging – even depressing – but it doesn’t have to be.  You see, our value isn’t in what we look like – or how much we weigh – or what we can do.  Our value is in being HIS – HE gives us our value – and He thought so much about us that He died to redeem us!  It also helps to know that all those “perfect” women – those who look like what our society says is a “perfect 10” are JUST as insecure about how they look as the rest of us!  They have to work really hard to maintain that “perfect 10” physique – and they find their value and worth solely in how they look.  There’s no peace in that mind-set – only a never ending striving to stay “perfect.”  WE can rest in knowing that we are just the way God wants us to be – and that we can fulfill our purpose no matter what we look like.  What a RELIEF!  Sharon