Made in God's Image
You wake up late…yet again. You quickly wash your face. You throw on a wrinkly shirt and jeans. You throw your hair up in yet another messy bun. All you have time to fix the kids for breakfast before you need to be out the door is cereal. You holler at your kids to get their shoes on and get in the car. You’re not even sure if they brushed their teeth.
After you drop the kids off at school, you replay the morning in your mind. You begin to belittle yourself and your abilities for how the morning played out….yet again.
Image from Freepik.com
Did you know that the things you tell yourself in your mind become the truths you begin to believe?
So if you think you are not good enough, ugly, impatient, a bad mom, or not capable, you are going to begin to see these lies as truths.
But I want to tell you that you are good enough! You are valuable! You are significant! You are loved!
God designed you. He didn’t make a mistake when he designed you. He created you in His image. No other animal or angel gets the privilege of being made in God’s image. This is what makes you valuable!
“(1) Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.
(2) Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
(3) When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
(4) what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them.
(5) You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
(6) You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:
(7) all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,
(8) the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
(9) Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8
In Psalm 8, David is in awe of how grand the heavens are. He even begins to question his own significance—why did God create such a small being when He can create such splendor? But in verse 5, David is reminded that God designed us in his image and likeness; we are his crowning achievement of creation!
Even though God sees us as His masterpiece, why can’t we see ourselves as valuable as God does?
Because of sin. Living in a broken world leaves us susceptible to emotional pain. As women and mothers, we will likely wrestle with harmful thoughts about ourselves or an improper evaluation of our self-worth at some point. Unfortunately, the world evaluates our self-worth based on external factors like beauty, brains, abilities, buying power, and performance. When we focus on these external factors that’s when the insecurities begin to form. That’s when the lies begin to look like truths in our minds.
How do we stop the lies from becoming truths?
If we want to stop hearing the world’s lies, then we must focus on God’s truths. We need to meditate on His promises.
“Finally, brother and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
We need to see ourselves as God sees us. He doesn’t value us based on worldly standards, He sees us as His fearful and wonderful design that reflects His glory. It is our value and significance to God that explains His willingness to send His only son to redeem us from our sin.
A healthy self-image is a slow process. It takes time to conform your thinking to that of Scripture when the world is constantly harassing you, but you can do it!
Find a friend to help encourage and support you. (I’m here if you need a friend.)
Place Bible verses around your home in places where you might be tempted to listen to worldly standards
Listen to worship music
Create a scheduled time to read your Bible or devotional (set an alarm so you don’t forget to do it)
