Written by: Tiffany Jacox, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Bellevue, Nebraska
One of my favorite things to do is to encourage others to see themselves the way God created them. People often struggle to see exactly where they fit in or to see the gifts with which God has equipped them. There are many reasons for these doubts and many of us have shared in that same struggle.
We can put our faith in the truth of God’s Word and use that truth to weed out the lies of Satan. We were created by God on purpose for a purpose! Jeremiah 29:11 states, "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'”
Every person on this planet was created by God, in the image of God for God’s purpose. Genesis 1:27 says, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
God created each of us for His purpose and provided us each with special gifts to do His good work. Ephesians 2:10 affirms, “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
No two people are exactly the same. God did that on purpose! I encourage you to read through 1 Corinthians 12 and 13. You will see those gifts explained and that we are instructed to use our gifts in love. We come together as the body of Christ, made up of many members—all of equal importance using our individual gifts together as the complete body of Christ. Doing our part in love allows God’s love to shine through. “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
We don’t have to worry about being perfect or doing it all. God provided us with others to help lighten the load and encourage us and He is also working in you! “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6).
We are to love one another; it is the second greatest commandment behind loving God with all that we are and all that we have. That means celebrating what each of us has to offer because God specifically equipped each one of us. It means coming together and sharing in one another’s joy and in one another’s pain and weakness. It means sharing in our good works that come from our deep faith and love of Christ. 1 Timothy 6:18 states, “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.”
No doubts. No comparisons. Just a celebration of the gifts each of us has been given to use in our part of God’s story.