That Geeky Church

I do my best thinking when I’m driving.  Something about being alone in a car, with nothing but the open road and my music to keep me company just allows me to have a clearer head about things.  Recently I was driving back home from spending a day with my wonderful girlfriend when a thought hit me: “I wish she could see herself the way I see her; beautiful and wonderful.”  She really is those things!  Throughout our entire friendship (just over 6 months) and the time we’ve been dating (just over 2 months) she has been amazing to me.  She became a friend to me when I needed one most, and before I knew it, I was falling for her.  We don’t always see eye to eye (mostly on art and pickled okra, seriously, who eats that?) but we have an amazing relationship.

Almost immediately after that thought hit me, another struck: “That’s just how God looks at us.”  I realized that God thinks of me the same way.  I see all the bad things in my life.  I know the times I fail Him, and the times I fail others, and the times I fail me.  I know how much I struggle with the same issues over and over and over again.  Sometimes I feel I’m caught in a vicious cycle and will never be free.  I feel like I’m broken.  I feel too disgusting for God.  I believe it’s in those times, that God thinks “I wish he could see himself the way I see him, beautiful and wonderful.”

God created us in His own image.  No other creature on earth has that distinction.  He loves us dearly.  I think often we get so hung up on the Old Testament vision of God as a punisher and ruler that we forget that we live under a new covenant.  We live under the covenant God made with us through His son, Jesus.  When Jesus was hung on the cross, he took all past, present and future sins from us.  They were all laid on His body.  Jesus’ sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice for all of humanity.  John 3:16 is one of the most well-known bible verses of all time and it says ““For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV) All that’s asked of us is to accept it, and follow Him.  Romans 10:9-11 says “9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”” (NIV) When we do that, God sees us as He saw his very own son; beautiful and wonderful.

I don’t know about you, but it’s comforting for me to know that I have a God who sees me in a better light than I see myself.  You may be wondering why He does that.  Well, He does it because He loves us and 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 states “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5 It is not rude, it is not self‑seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (NIV) Think for a moment about those whom you truly love.  Do you only focus on the bad that they have done to you, or do you remember more of the good times?  If you truly love them, then you aren’t hung up on the things they’ve done to hurt you.  God is the same way with us, only whereas we’re flawed and often let old hurts creep back in, God doesn’t.  He sees us as He intended us, beautiful and wonderful.