Mon Ephesians 2:1-10 Thu Psalm 103:8-14 Sun Ephesians 1:4
Tues Romans 12:1-8 Fri Romans 8:35-39
Wed Romans 12:9-22 Sat Psalm 139:13-16
As a human being, you possess a completely unique physical and biological fingerprint. The latter is called DNA, and yours is absolutely unique from any other person in eternity past, present or future. I suppose I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but have you also considered that your created purpose is also that unique? You are God’s masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10 NLT), and there is not a single other one exactly like you.
I wish we could fully embrace that truth. The problem is, everyday life and those you share it with can eat away at the beauty of that truth and make you cringe when you look in the mirror. We tend to wear our faults and failures as the outer skin that looks back at us. Our unique and true self, created in God’s image for a very specific purpose, is the soft tissue and vital organs which too often remain obscured by our imperfections. We confess our sins, but we cannot see ourselves apart from them. They are forgiven and forgotten by God, when we genuinely confess them. But we regularly wear them around, because we don’t accept the true forgiveness God gives. We don’t know what true forgiveness is or feels like. We rarely get it from the people we share this life with, and consequently we project that onto God and believe that He can’t really forgive and forget (at least not us).
What would happen if we began to see our forgiven and uniquely created selves as they truly are? What would our lives look like if we began to passionately pursue the fully unique purpose(s) that God created us for? What kind of “rub-off” affect would it have on the people around us, when we began to truly forgive and show grace to those we share this life with? I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I believe we would begin to experience true freedom and see how small our lives have become.
Yes Virginia, there is a Satan … and he desires nothing more than to imprison us in a false sense of our created and true self. With each body blow he lands, he drives us farther toward isolation. God’s design is for us to live in community, serving and loving others in such a way that they (and you) are reminded of God’s complete and unconditional love for us. We don’t have to measure up or “pretty” up to come to Him. He made us for a reason, and loves us without condition.
Maybe you’d say there is nothing unique about you. In studying the subject of DNA this week, I found a compelling truth, which speaks to that false inner voice. If you were to compare the DNA of two random individuals, at least 99.9% of their DNA will be similar. But it is that last .1% that makes all the difference. (Source: http://www.idna.in/About-DNA.aspx) You may feel every bit of a small and similar fish in a big pond, but that’s not what God says.
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Psalm 139:13-15 (MSG)
Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Ephesians 1:4 (MSG)
Embrace the truth that you are His masterpiece, made for a specific purpose. Engage with God to learn more about your .1%. Fight back against the voices and forces that seek to tear you down and isolate you. Then go serve and love others in a way which reminds them (and you) that God loves us all unconditionally and completely.
