God's Gift: You

Maybe you are wondering why I have linked identity and self-worth. It may not be readily apparent for everyone, but I find that the more we understand who we are to God, the more we understand our worth to Him. And He is the only one that counts! He is the only one who can offer an evaluation of us, the only who can value us accurately.

Who are we to Him?

Most of us have no problem listing a few things: we are his creation, we are his children and co-heirs with Christ, we are loved. He made us in his image, fearfully and wonderfully. All of that is true and right to remember.

But I think that we have go one step further to the result of his having formed us and made us his children, and all those things. We have to look at what the expression of His love has done for us and what he continues to do for us, beyond the creation.

Our value to God

The distraction of placing our value in what others think or say, or how they respond to us is just that – a distraction. Other humans are full of our human frailty and will let us down, or even pull us down. God will not – he will never leave us nor forsake us. God chose to make us His, erasing our sin in one giant leap through Jesus. He found us worthy of being known and making himself known to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let’s look at that again. The creator of the universe has found me, has found you, worthy of revealing himself to us and being our father, our friend and brother, our comforter. He has found us worthy of bestowing gifts.

He gifts us immeasurably

The first gift that God has given me and given you is the gift of who I am, who you are, who we are. It is our personality, which is an expression of himself that He put within us. Do not be mistaken that this implies we need not make changes and soften our rough edges. The fallen world we live in has distorted the gift, but He can take us back to the way we were intended, particularly through healing, spiritual development, and personal growth. These talents, personality traits, spiritual gifts within us are all from him.

James 1:17 says, ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.’ This is lovely verse. All rainbows, clouds, flowers, and balloons. And it used to be just that to me, where I would say that his gift of a roof over my head and the food on my table was good and perfect, especially coffee, and ice cream. It was nothing but fluff in my head when I considered this verse. But surrounding this verse in a chapter that speaks of challenges, humility, and the troubles of life. It is sandwiched between ‘don’t be deceived’ and our ‘birth through the word of truth.’ I now find that underlying this verse is a challenge to embrace our lives, the difficulties and the personality that have made us who are and recognize all of it for what it is: the gift of God to us. A good and perfect gift to you.

This verse is the challenge to look upon ourselves as God sees us, to accept who we are without flinching, unabashedly accepting that we are embraced, loved, and enjoyed by the God who made us this way.