His Masterpiece

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

~Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

Have you ever noticed that women in general are often comparing themselves to one another? We often look at each others’ looks, marriages, children, lifestyles, roles in ministry, spiritual gifts, social circles, financial situations, personalities…wow…the list could go on and on. We sometimes look at another woman and have thoughts like “If only I could be more outgoing like…”; “If my husband was a spiritual leader in our home like…”; “If I had talents and abilities like…”; “I would be much more confident if I looked like…”

We could drive ourselves seriously insane by all of the “what ifs” and comparisons. But the truth is that each one of us was uniquely hand carved by the Almighty God. Each one of us is an original masterpiece that God created in His image with a specific purpose and plan in mind (Ephesians 2:10). He does not make mistakes and He does not make duplicates or back-ups.

But when we try to be something or someone other than ourselves, not only are we pretending, but we are messing with God’s perfect plan and design for us. When I thought about it that way, I was pretty convicted. I mean, who do I think I am to say I know better than God? Ouch! I realized that God created me just the way He did for a very specific purpose and there is no one else that can fill my role. If I try to alter who I am, not only am I dishonoring my Creator, I’m also cheating myself out of the journey and blessings that He has designed for me.

“I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” 

~Jeremiah 29:11

It doesn’t mean that we arrive on this earth as total perfection. Each of us have a journey to take toward becoming more like Him, and like in yesterday’s video, He will chisel away the things that are not from Him and continue to shape and mold us to be more like Himself. But when we know that we have a purpose and we find acceptance and our identity in Christ instead of others, we’re able to share ourselves openly, as we are, knowing that we are a work in progress and none of us have it all together. We recognize that we’ve received the most amazing gift of grace (undeserved favor) and there is nothing that we can do or not do that will change God’s love for us.

I don’t know about you, but that takes a lot of pressure off when I realize that I AM measuring up…I’m being exactly who He wants me to be and my job on this earth is not to become what I think everyone else wants me to be or to pretend to be more than I am…it’s to pursue a walk with God that is so close that I begin to resemble Him more and more. What’s really cool about that, is that as we experience our own walk with Him more and more, we’re able to extend the same gift of grace to others instead of judgment or criticism, because we understand that they are also “works in progress” on the same journey.

I’m learning not to be impatient in the process and that God’s timing is perfect, even if I’m having to wait at times. And I’m being gently reminded to trust that His dreams for me are greater than any that I can come up with, so I’m learning to share myself, as is, and wait patiently for the next season of His blessing.

• How do you combat the temptation to compare yourself to others? 
• What scares you the most about sharing yourself with others “as is”?

~Kris Samovitz