Just the Way You Are

From: Beyond Me (Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale, 1987), 213-214
-Norma Kvindlog and Esther Lindgren Anderson

God's people tend to suffer a lot of false guilt over sins they have already confessed and received forgiveness for. The big ones and the minor ones. Even attitudes. We long to live lives that are beyond reproach. We want to be perfect parents, perfect children, perfect friends, perfect Christians, perfect people. But we are not always empathetic and forgiving. We have trouble demonstrating unconditional love. We are not always kind. Sometimes we even have temper tantrums. And sometimes we are blanketed by depression.
Why do we have all the struggle? Why is it so difficult to see ourselves as God sees us - on the one hand, sinners who cannot be good enough to please him; on the other hand, his beloved children, forgiven and restored? One reason, as we've discovered, is that we're often preoccupied with the opinions of other people rather than God's. We've adopted this world's standards. We judge ourselves and others by those standards, forgetting all that the Father has to say about us.
But as we begin to recognize and accept our standing in God's value system, we can be free from the struggle for self-esteem, the maneuvers to bolster our egos, the fight for our place in the pecking order. Freedom will come when our views of ourselves don't depend on the looks, physique, or intelligence we inherited, the family we were born into, the size of our bank account, or even how others treat us.

Wow. I'm relatively certain that when I read that today, and even while typing it, my cheeks were flushed with some guilt. I've been there. For years, I allowed myself to look at the image in the mirror and see the reflection with worldly eyes. I tell ya, it led to self-loathing... but things changed, God has been faithfully reminding me that I am made in His image and beautiful in His sight.

So, God created human beings, in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

We can't obtain perfection. But we can work, with the Holy Spirit, towards obtaining the fruits of the Spirit. That is my resolution this year. To bring myself closer to all the fruits of the Spirit... because when I've obtained all of them I'll be living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I'll be living more Christ-like.