Child of God, see yourself through his eyes – 28 October 2022

One of the most difficult relationships to keep healthy is the relationship with yourself. When we are still very young children, we discover that we are our own, unique persons. We begin to test the limits of our existence; it is called the “terrible twos”. From a very young age, we are gathering information. How does the world see me? Where do I fit in? What do my parents think of me? Some have the challenge of growing up with siblings, and this is not always a peaceful and loving experience. I measure myself against my peers at school and it increases in intensity when I reach my teenage years. There, we form the basis of our adult self-image that will be with us for the rest of our lives. We ask ourselves unconsciously: Who am I? What am I able to do? What are my blind spots and the things I cannot do?

The problem we face is that we do not always have pure sources of information on which we build our self-esteem. Not all children are blessed with a healthy home, filled with loving parents and siblings. Teenagers are trying to cope in a group, where all are having a hard time to find themselves, and try to hide it from everyone else. All shine on social media, but everybody hurts.

In our lives, we get many different forms of feedback on who we are. We face rejection along the way. We might not pass all the tests in our path of learning. We have failed love relationships. We have stress at work with performance management. So easily, we think the message of the universe is: You are not good enough!

When Paul writes this letter to the Christians facing daily persecution in Rome, he finds them disheartened and miserable. They fear for their lives and are struggling just to physically survive. Of course, they are having doubts about who they are! That is why Paul goes to great lengths to remind them of the only opinion about them that really matters. Yes, we are in these things. We are living in a broken world, filled with suffering and it directly affects us. We can so easily fall into the trap of thinking that we are losers, that we are not making the cut.

Paul reminds us: God loves us! He has an eternal purpose for our lives. His opinion of us is the only one that really matters for all eternity. God does not see his child as a loser. He never thinks we are not good enough. This verse reminds us of this huge truth to build our self-esteem on. Because God loves us, we are more than conquerors! In Christ, we are good enough for him!

God’s love makes all the difference in our lives. We do not build our self-worth on the opinions of others, but on what God says about us. He has created us lovingly in our mother’s womb, Psalm 139 teaches. He has loved us so much that he gave his only son, so that we may have eternal life (John 3:16). By faith, he has made us new persons (2 Corinthians 5:17). He lives in us by his Spirit, who lets us cry out to him: Abba Father (Romans 8:15). We are God’s beloved children. He helps us to overcome all challenges, to be more than conquerors in every aspect of life. That is who you are, by faith. More than a conqueror!

Prayer: Lord, help me to see myself through your eyes. I am not a loser due to my past and my present circumstances. I am more than a conqueror through the love of Christ, over every challenge. Thank you that you are making me a winner in life! Amen.