Remember those personality tests that you had to take in CAPP class in highschool? Y'know, the ones that classified you as ridiculous things like otters or lions or different colours? You're blue: very sensitive to other people's emotions. You love music and butterflies and cry at sappy movies.
Those things were such junk, in my opinion. At least, at that time. I was not self-aware enough to know whether I was the type of person to prefer working on their own or in a group, felt liberated by structure or felt hemmed in, loved the outdoors or was a homebody. They were junk (in my opinion) because they were totally subjective. Of course I am going to say "I prefer outdoors" and "structure cramps my style" - they were way cooler! I based my answers on what I thought should be; the ideal standard of perfection, not due to any real measure of self-awareness. Yes, all 16-year olds have SOME self-awareness, but I am in my *sniff* mid-twenties and I am still figuring out some basic keys to how God made me. I didn't really even start having more than a superficial level of self-awareness until my first or second year of college. Of course, I may be just speaking for myself here. I may have just been clueless. Perhaps due to the death-grip of insecurity on my life, I wasn't able or willing to see who I "really" was, because it didn't meet with my unrealistic standards I put on myself as positive, desirable qualities. Thankfully, God has healed me of a lot of that insecurity and I am beginning to see what an amazing, talented, beautiful person I am. And before you think that I am blowing my own horn, I'll share with you an insight I got last night at church.
Pastor George was sharing about being creatively made with our unique gifts and callings on our lives. As we took communion, we each went and stood in front of a large mirror set up on a paint easel, with these words written across the top and bottom: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" and "His blood was shed and His body was broken FOR ME!!!" And as he was explaining what to do, telling us that we were uniquely made, I got this picture of a standard, I guess a measuring tape or line. And I realized that each person was made by God with a different standard than everyone else. He doesn't use the same measuring tape with you as He does with me. He broke the mould, you could say, with each different person. So yes, I am amazing and wonderful and beautiful. So are you. Measured by the standard that He made you by, you are amazing and beautiful and incredible.
Here's another way to put it. I acquired an acoustic 12-string guitar at a garage sale. I want to refinish it and restain it, bring out some of the original wood tones. To do this I needed to find out what this guitar was, where it was made, and how valuable it was. Being an amateur, I didn't want to ruin some hidden gem I might have stumbled across. So of course, I Googled it. These were some of the main themes running through the forums:
1. If it was massed-produced, it was less valuable.
2. Conversely, the more unique it was, the more valuable.
3. The higher the quality of resources used to make it (ie., higher quality wood, etc), the more valuable.
4. If it had been made by, owned by, signed by, came in contact with, wanted by, or heck, even was in the same room with a famous person, its value increased exponentially.
We are not massed produced. We are each uniquely made! Even twins, who have the same DNA, have different phenotypes that express their DNA differently. Those twins will live different lives, will have different personalities, likes and dislikes, will have different spiritual gifts. We are all uniquely made. God broke the mould with each one of us.
We were made with the highest quality materials possible! Jack London in Call of the Wild (I think) once described the villain, "Beauty" as looking as if he were made with the dregs of God's colour palette mixed together. I weep that people think of themselves that way! It's more like John Hammond in Michael Crighton's Jurassic Park kept saying: "I spared no expense." God spared no expense for you! The Bible says he thought of you before you were born, and his thoughts about you are more numerous than the sand on the seashore! Who thinks that much about junk?! Do people go around thinking all the time about each item at the dump? No! We are not junk! Genesis talks about man and woman being the pinnacle of God's creation. While he called the vast beauty of the sun, moon and stars, the oceans and mountains and all of creation "Good" - he looked at man and woman and called them "VERY Good!"
And lastly - we have been made by, paid for and owned by, signed and sealed by, wanted by, in contact with and in the presence of the most famous, incredible person there is - God! We have been made by the best Craftsman there is. I doubt even Les Paul could make stars, and with a mere word! Who can put the universe together with such precision? Who could hang the earth on its axis, create the smallest atoms to work together, create energy and matter and all things period! Not only that, but he has paid for us with the most precious currency of all: Jesus' blood. Jesus gave up a sinless, exalted position to be among His people, and also to die for us. We have a value that is literally beyond measure. God wants us! He desires to be in relationship with us - now, and in heaven. Thank God that he raised Jesus from the dead, allowing us to have life too!!
So you, reader, whether you have previously known Jesus or have had a first-time introduction through this blog - know that God loves you! That he made you special and unique and incredible. That he wants you for you, he wants to be in your life, and he gave up his son Jesus for you. If you don't know you're loved, ask God to show you! And ask God to show you the different, unique parts of yourself so that you can celebrate it. :)
