What do you see?
Oftentimes people to not have healthy self-images and that is understandable. We are fully aware of our many failings and shortcomings. No ons knows them better than we do ourselves! And sometimes our opinion of ourselves are severely warped resulting from damage caused by past experiences, grief, and shame in our lives, some of which may even not be of our own choice, or doing...
So, more often than not, we do not believe that we deserve to be loved, or cherished, or respected, or even liked by others, especially by Almighty God! We may feel that we do not deserve salvation, are too sinful to be saved, or to be called righteous and that we do not deserve to even have a glimpse of the portals of heaven!
Why should God love me, when there are many more deserving people who have proved their love for Him... people who have not only lived blameless lives before Him, but who have sacrificed their lives for Him and who have died for His cause and Kingdom?
Some years ago, I was privileged to know a Zulu lady who, when I first met her, made no great impression on me except for the very gentle expression on her face... just another big, humble, quietly spoken mama. She died unexpectedly and when I travelled to her three-bedroom, brick under tile home, in Umlazi Township, Kwa-Zulu Natal, to sympathise with her family I was totally amazed and unprepared for the scene that met my eyes. There were no luxurious furniture in the house, yet in the backyard she had erected a brick under tile church building, fitted with pews, pulpit, a keyboard, a sound system and a kombi to transport the elderly to and from services. She hired and paid a pastor to minister the word every Sunday and during the week she, a nursing sister by profession, would lead the prayer meetings herself when her nursing shifts allowed. She also attended evening classes, studying towards a Diploma in Theology, in order to become an ordained minister of the Word of God.
When I first saw and understood the sacrifices this family made because of their love for the Lord, I cried before Him. What did my efforts for His Kingdom amount to in comparison with what I had seen? Why would God even consider using me in any way whatsoever?
These thoughts brought to mind an e-mail I had received earlier:
"The next time you feel like God can't use you just remember...
Noah became drunk
Abraham was very old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David was an adulterer (and a scheming murderer)
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was, well you know...
The Samarian woman was divorced, (more than once, and
living in sin)
Zaccheus was (a corrupt tax collector and) too short
Paul was too religious (and a persecutor of Christians)
Timothy had an ulcer...
AND
Lazarus was dead!
No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are the messenger."
Author unknown (I added the bits in brackets.)
Very crudely put, but technically correct.
Yes, we are sinful by nature and not deserving of any of God's mercies:
"For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God... " Rom. 3:23
The good news, however, is that salvation depends not on me, or who I am, or what I have or have not done, but on the mercy, grace and love of God, and on what Jesus had done:
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." Rom. 6:23
and it is for ALL, notwithstanding anything you may have said or done, or not have done:
"For there is no distinction beween Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over
all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved." Rom. 10:12,13
"For God so loved the world (that would include you and me also) that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
(I included that in brackets)
"God shows no personal favoritism to no man..." Gal. 2:6
Thank You, Lord God, that no matter how inferior or undeserving I am, or appear to be in the eyes of others, God's love and mercy and salvation includes me. It is up to me, in faith, to accept it as a free gift from Your hand and to offer myself, as I am, to be of use in Your service to Your honour and glory.
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