Reflecting on What God Has Made!

Jesus is the Latter Rain!

The importance of reflecting on one’s self is very significant. There is no telling in the results of an individual who reflects on how they can improve. In fact, many of the issues we face today, such as the stigmatization of mental illnesses or the guilt-laden youth, arise from a lack of self-awareness and self-reflection. And even the Bible supports reflecting and being aware of one’s condition, as it guides us to do it in the right way. Because anything good done in the wrong way could end up in unnecessary disaster.

Self-Awareness in the Bible

It is quite apparent when reading the Word of God, that when God uses people, they tend to be self-aware. And what self-awareness really means is that a person is capable of analyzing where they’re at in life, and that they understand who they are in the context of their situation.

An example of this from the scriptures is Peter, who is one of the twelve apostles of the early Church.

1 Peter 1:24-25 King James Version (KJV)
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

As you can see from above, Peter was aware of his state. He recognized that we are all people, and as with all people, we are immensely fragile.

Psalm 103:14-16 World English Bible (WEB)
14 For he knows how we are made.
    He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass.
    As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone.
    Its place remembers it no more.

Furthermore, King David, another significant character from the Bible recognized his status when compared to God’s status. He acknowledged himself as grass compared to God, and was self-aware even as the King of Israel. And so, when you are aware of how fragile and how small you are in comparison to God, you start to realize that life is not only about you. It’s about the One who created you.

You may be the toughest person on the planet, with a cold heart, an unbreakable will, and a stubborn attitude, but you are still a human being. Nothing less, and certainly, nothing more!

Reflecting on the Fragility of Man

After world wars, civilizations rising, societies crumbling, and all the likewise, God stands tall above it all. He is the God who blessed Abraham, He is the God who delivered Israel out of Egypt, and He is the God who came to Earth in the flesh as a human being to die on the cross at the hands of His own people, both for you and for me.

Romans 5:17-18 World English Bible (WEB)
17 For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ18 So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.

Jesus Christ died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins and died a cruel, hellish, death, but, after three days, He rose again victoriously so that your salvation would be justified. And I urge you today, if you have not already, to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.

I cannot imagine a better outcome in my life, if I had not accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Why? Because there are countless times from the day of my birth to the day I write this blog where God has intervened in my life only to bless me and to guide me. He is my Lord because my life belongs to Him, and He is my Saviour because He paid a heavy price to save me.

Once you’re aware of that, there’s meaning in your life. You’re not just a random product of time plus matter plus chance. Ultimately, with God in the picture, you become a sacred being.

So in the example of your case, you must ponder where you’re at in life. You can ask yourself, “Am I happy with where I am in life?”

If happy, do you believe your life has any meaning and can you justify that? I believe the only coherent justification to a life with meaning, is only possible through Jesus Christ. If you’re unhappy with your life, or mental health for that matter, why? And, how can you fix it?

As I said earlier, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Whether happy or unhappy, read the Word of God and commit yourself to prayer. God will hear you, and He cares for you. And as you walk with God, you will feel a comfort and love like never before. So, be aware of your limits as a human being, but recognize also that God still cares for you!

1 Peter 5:7 King James Version (KJV)
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Self-Reflecting in the Bible

Now, if self-awareness is the bread, then, I’d say self-reflection is the butter. Self-reflecting is identifying what you’ve done wrong and as to how you can improve yourself.

This is very different from guilt. In fact, self-reflection relies on conviction whereas guilt relies on condemnation. Now, the only one who can really convict you, is Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:25 World English Bible (WEB)
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.

And Holy Spirit is the spirit of God (Jesus Christ) who comes to guide you and lead you once you accept the atonement work of Jesus. He does not condemn you, but, He does convict you.

Godly conviction, furthermore, is when God aids your heart in identifying where you’ve gone wrong and as to how you should do better. On the other hand, condemnation is a fallen nature which punishes your conscience for the ways you’ve erred.

John 16:8 World English Bible (WEB)
When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment;

So, throughout your life, allow Holy Spirit through prayer and through reflection on the Word of God to convict and correct you so that your life and mental health aligns with His love. This is the self-reflection which God wants. Spending your time reflecting on Him allows you to improve and to make yourself more like your Heavenly Father.

Therefore, trust God that He forgave you, and through time spent with Him, you will face a life saturated with blessings. God’s very spirit will guide and convict you to be the best person you could possibly be. And be aware of yourself in God’s eyes, don’t be proud, but, be humble and have faith in the love of God in Christ Jesus. The key to self-reflection or self-awareness is in reflecting on the love of God.

By Andre Wijesekera

Acceptance and Tolerance of That Which Is Sacred

Give it to God!

Sacredness and humanity is something that goes hand in hand. But, how do you view yourself? We often talk about issues dealing with how people view others. Yet, we mustn’t forget that to enjoy a good life, you must first deal with how you view yourself and inner-acceptance. Food-eating disorders, low self-esteem, and many mental health issues which our society faces, relate to how a person views himself or herself. So, to find out what’s the right way to deal with the matter, continue reading.

What is Sacred?

The acceptance of that which is sacred first starts with what you define as sacred. To be sacred means to hold a divine purpose. And so, do you hold a divine purpose? Has God willed your life into being?

These are all valid, thought-provoking questions which one must answer in order to live a life worthwhile. I believe God assigns everyone a divine purpose. And God created you with the intent of you bearing His image, to represent Him.

Genesis 1:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

You are sacred. I placed a period directly after the previous sentence because it is a fact and there’s no way to argue the contrary. God intends for you to be in His image because you are a sacred individual.

Now, just because you hold divine purpose, doesn’t mean that whatever you do is divine. In fact, your lifestyle might be as far apart from divine purpose as the East is from the West. But, there is a way to come back to your divine purpose.

When mankind rejected God, the devil found a way to ruin mankind’s perception of its own sacredness. You could read more about that in Genesis 3 of the Bible or in this post.

Thank God, He (God) came in the flesh 2000 years ago as Jesus Christ and died on the cross to take your sins and my sins upon Himself so that He may restore us to our divine purpose and in His image; after 3 days, He rose again to fully justify your salvation.

So, if you haven’t already, please acknowledge with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour.

The Hideous Made Beautiful

Furthermore, there are those of you who hate your physical appearance or hold what many people and psychologists call a “low self-esteem.” This is why many people, especially women, seem to hold eating-disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.

Anorexia is when one has a severe fear of gaining weight even when unhealthily skinny. And bulimia is when someone binge eats unhealthily but then tries to purge what they ate, or fasts for a while through unhealthy means.

Now, scientists and doctors relate the causes of such eating-disorders to a combination of biochemistry and environmental factors. Whatever the cause is, I know this is a fallen world where things don’t function the way God intended them to. And what I need… is a solution.

I believe that solution is, in the case of people with eating disorders, in taking your eyes off magazines along with media that limit a person’s worth to their physical ideal, and to realize that God loves you just as you are, physically. And to really drill the right idea into your head, read the Bible (start with the New Testament) and commune with Him.

If you want to be physically healthy and fit, then follow a proper, healthy, nutritionally-sufficient diet and exercise at a moderate level. Just don’t forget that God loves everyone, fat or skinny, poor or rich, black or white, and He will always considers you as sacred.

Colossians 3:9-11 World English Bible (WEB)
Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10 and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator11 where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.

Jesus is the key to a healthy lifestyle!

When in Christ, there is no factor by which one is worth less than another. You are all created for God’s glory in the way God calls you to be. So, read the Bible, pray, and worship Him. When you do that, you will automatically renew what you know of His image so that your life will closely resemble His perfection. There’s power in acceptance of who you are in Christ Jesus.

Acceptance of the Temple of God

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 World English Bible (WEB)
19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

There’s a stark reminder in the Word of God that you do not belong to yourself. When you make a paper airplane, does that paper airplane belong to itself or to you? It belongs to you, and in the same way, God made you and He owns you. You were never supposed to belong to yourself. It’s just not possible to live a life of purpose in a life not surrendered!

Your body is sacred and holy to God. It’s a living temple which His Holy Spirit inhabits. Moreover, I can argue that not only are you sacred but that you are sacred on top of sacred. You are the pinnacle of sacredness of all creation to God.

And that’s because God made the animals and all nature, for your existence, which He subjects to you. So, those things are sacred, but they are sacred because they were made for you! Thus, making you a divine purpose of purposes.

Genesis 1:28 World English Bible (WEB)
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Surrender your everything to God before it’s too late!

Even more, whether you look good on the outside or not to yourself, God is pleased with you when you surrender your physical being (alongside your entire self) to Him. If you want to be healthier, you can workout and eat healthily, but, do it for the glory of God, not out of fear or unhealthily obsessive conditions.

1 Samuel 16:7 King James Version (KJV)
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Realizing Your Value In The Eyes of God

It is very difficult to love others if don’t start realizing your value. There’s a divine and precious principle in understanding your intrinsic value as an individual. One major idea behind those who struggle with thoughts of suicide or depression is the despicable notion of self-worthlessness. Nevertheless, read what the Word of God has to say, and observe how much God has valued you.

The Importance of Loving Yourself

The fact of the matter is that not loving yourself can be very harmful. If you can’t love yourself, how could you possibly love others?

1 Corinthians 13:1 World English Bible (WEB)
13 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.

The Bible makes it very clear as it does in the verse above that love is essential to every individual. The Biblical narrative is about love from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelations. And Jesus reminded us in the New Covenant that realizing your value in God’s eyes is a prerequisite to loving others when he talked about the two most important commandments.

Mark 12:31 World English Bible (WEB)
31 The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’Leviticus 19:18 There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Jesus said to love others as yourself, meaning that this commandment first assumes that you love yourself. Now, God is not a hypocrite. Whatever He tells us to do is always a reflection of what He demonstrates and this case is no exception. Furthermore, If God did not love Himself, how could He love us?

John 3:35 World English Bible (WEB)
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand.

Verses like the above verse make it clear that Father God loves Himself even as God the Son. Bible verses like John 3:35 should not confuse us about Jesus’ divinity, rather, it should point out the loving nature of God.

Moreover, if God loves Himself, then, we should also love ourselves because we should imitate and obey God.

Ephesians 5:1 World English Bible (WEB)
5 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

Realizing Your Value In Christ Jesus

Moreover, loving yourself is a key to success. When you love yourself, you enable yourself to establish and maintain healthy relationships since you become capable of loving others. Plus, when you love yourself, you establish a healthy quality of confidence within your personality.

But, maybe your past prevents you from loving yourself. Maybe you’re living in guilt and condemnation for past actions which now disgust you. Well, there’s even a solution for that.

2 Corinthians 5:17 King James Version (KJV)
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour where He paid the price for your sins so that you don’t have to, He sees you as a new creation. He values you as His beloved child and you then gain the right to imitate your Heavenly Father.

So, your past self has nothing to do with your current righteousness obtained through Jesus Christ.

Even God calls it wise to love yourself. If you love your soul, that makes it tremendously easier to seek wisdom. So, it’s a wise decision to start realizing your value in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 19:8 World English Bible (WEB)
He who gets wisdom loves his own soul.
    He who keeps understanding shall find good.

A Wise Decision Indeed

It is therefore the best decision to love yourself. When you love yourself, you allow God to work in you. If you understand the value that God assigned you, God can work through you and in you to accomplish amazing things.

Matthew 5:14-16 World English Bible (WEB)
14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 16 Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Even Jesus said in the above passage that you are the light of the world if you follow Him. Jesus compares you and me to a lamp and that our purpose is to glorify Him because He has made us for a special reason; you’ve got to understand this! If God says that He made you in His image, then don’t call yourself insignificant, it’s like putting a lamp under a basket instead of placing it on a stand.

Sure, you are imperfect but that’s the way all people are. Only God is perfect, that doesn’t mean you’re insignificant. When you understand how much Jesus loves you, it becomes a no-brainer to love yourself.

Genesis 1:27 World English Bible (WEB)
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

Therefore, believe what God says, and love yourself because He loves you. When you realize the extent of God’s undying love for you, it becomes very easy to love yourself. And when you love yourself, it becomes very easy to love others since God loves them.