“And so we know and rely on God’s love for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
1 John 4:16 NIV
I just finished this long-overdue painting of my boys. Because my hands and eyes are rusty from not painting oil for an extended period, this is not an easy start for me.
Often I was frustrated and discouraged. I had to repaint some areas over and over. But in the end, I am reasonably pleased with the final product.
When I think about how my creator sees me, I am still amazed and sometimes in disbelief— that despite the rough and far-from-perfect image I see in myself, my God sees me as the lovely and wonderful child of God He has made.
Like my final painting is far different from the beginning and middle stages, He sees the final product I am meant to be.
Ephesians 2:10 tells us: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Yes, it’s hard to believe that the times we mess up, again and again, the times we don’t even like ourselves, the times we are broken and full of remorse, our God still loves, forgives, and cares about us as His precious newborn babies. We are masterpieces in our Father’s eyes.
Let this truth sink in, friends, hope it will refresh your heart today as it does to mine.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for blessing us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm. You designed each of us with a special purpose, and you already know what we could become, not what we have done.
Please enable me to use my gifts to encourage others and inspire their walks with you. Continue to give me good works in my hands so your glory will shine through all of my efforts.
In Jesus’s name
Amen
Ask yourself
What difference did you see in yourself before you knew Jesus and after?
How can you draw on Christ’s power even more in your daily walk with him?
