Day 10: Learning to Love Yourself

   One of the ways that we are broken is in our struggle to see how valuable we are. We allow others and the world to tell us who we are rather than see ourselves as precious and valuable creations of God. When someone comes to know Christ, they can still continue to see themselves as "not enough" or "too much". They can daily battle to accept themselves. But the Gospel isn't about being "enough" the Gospel is about how Jesus is even more than enough. We are called to love others, but how can we even begin to love others if we cannot love and accept ourselves? I believe that we are works in progress yes, but just because we are a work in progress that doesn't mean that we are any less valuable or of less importance.
  I've learned alot over these few years how crucial it is to remind myself that Christ is at work in me. I've learned that it is important to see value in myself before I can begin to tell others to value themselves. I've learned that being imperfect and messy is not something to be ashamed of and that in the midst of my imperfection, Christ is perfect and covers the cracks. No one is too broken to come to Jesus. No one is too far gone.
   When we trash-talk ourselves we are not glorifying God. We are not loving the way that we are called to. The love that God has for us should motivate us to love ourselves and those around us. We were created in God's image. When we bash ourselves or how we look, we are dissing what God has made. God does not make garbage. When we become so focused on how we are not "enough" we aren't focused on Christ. We become too dependent on ourselves to hold it all together and forget about the power of Christ. We can forget that we have been made new.
    Yet in 2 Corithians 12:9-10 it states, "But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, than I am strong" 
We may fail, but that does not diminish our value. When we take the focus off ourselves and look at Jesus, we can remember that he can give us the power to stand when we cannot. We can remember that we are being refined and regardless of where we may have been before Jesus, regardless of the things that we've done or that may have happened, we still have value & those things do not define us.
  2 Corithians 5:17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!"
 Remember that you are valuable. You are important and where you fail, Christ prevails. Focus on what he can do, remember that you are new.