As long as we have breath in our bodies and are open to it, Holy Spirit continuously gives us deeper insight of who we are in Christ. And one thing that I am learning is that we are not an accumulation of our experiences unless we allow those experience (and not Christ) to define us. We are a spirit that has a soul that lives within the shell of a body. We can allow what happens to us to either draw us closer to God or push us farther away. Here is the thing – we get to choose… Life is full of lessons; will you allow it to embitter you? Or will you allow it to give you a closer insight into ALL that Christ defeated on the cross for you?
I recently have gone through a double mastectomy, a second war with an old enemy, but God IS greater than cancer AND let it be known that MY God STILL heals. Two things went through my head following my surgery. The first thing was kind of silly, nonsensical if you will – I wondered how much weight I had lost with the removal of my two breasts! How crazy is that? What a random crazy thought to go through my head! The second thought was a revelation, one that I want to share with you. For some reason, I thought I would be a “lesser” person without my breasts. That I would “feel” different. How surprising it was to me to come to the realization that I am STILL me. I am the SAME person I was before the mastectomy, yes, I have lost a part of my anatomy, but my anatomy is a shell. It is NOT who I am. I am a spirit that has a soul that exists inside a body. I am NO less of who I was before surgery. Surgery did not cut away at who I am. And who I am is a child of the UTMOST high God. I am a blood bought child of God. I don’t know why this realization surprised me, but this is what I realized – Romans 8:31-39 says:
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one—for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep. ” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
You see, we get to choose. The war hero who is missing a leg or an arm, is STILL that same person he was before, the “shell” of him has simply changed. EVERY elderly person you see whose body has aged (and perhaps slowed them down) is STILL the same person you always knew inwardly it is simply that their bodies have changed. More and more I am convinced that we need to look within. We are a spirit that has a soul (your personality) that LIVES within a body. I don’t know why I expected to feel “incomplete” – the truth of the matter is I was surprised to feel very much as whole as I always have felt. And then I realized what I had already known – We are NOT our bodies. The world puts SUCH significance into our “outer shell” which is diminishing EVERY day. Now in saying this, I am not saying we should not take care of our bodies -our bodies are vessels that once we accept Jesus our Savior, make Him Lord OVER our lives belongs to Him! We SHOULD take care of our bodies and not neglect them!
What are you focusing on? There is nothing wrong with trying to take care of your body, for the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
God loves ALL of you – body, soul and spirit! The total package of who it is He created you to be! Instead of viewing yourself as the world views you – making you think you were created with flaws! I don’t know about you, but I’ve begun to recognize the lies of the enemy as I have prayed fully for God to give me ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart to receive ALL that God would say to me.
HE CREATED YOU IN HIS IMAGE! YOUR BEAUTIFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE!
YOU ARE AN INTRICATE WORK OF ART MADE BY THE FATHER!
To view yourself as anything other than God’s magnificent creation is to do Him a disservice! Who is the world to dictate WHAT you should look like? It is the reason why so MANY of our youth look into the mirror and see fault instead of individual beauty! God has created you to set you a part!
True beauty comes from knowing who you are in Christ! There is no greater joy than experiencing the Father’s love! He loves you so very, very much. You are special! You are wanted! You are loved! You are chosen! In Christ! And NOTHING can EVER separate you from the love of God which is found in Christ Jesus!
Listen – you will never experience the absolute ULTIMATE feeling of beauty until you accept and experience the absolute love of the Savior! The One who loved you enough to die on the cross for forgiveness of YOUR sins! The One Who Rose again and even at THIS VERY moment is interceding on YOUR behalf at the right hand of the Father! The One Who is going to come again and receive YOU (His bride). You CANNOT know the meaning of TRUE beauty until you experience the Savior’s love! My prayer is that you do! That you allow Jesus to love you the way God has always destined you to BE loved! For true beauty can ONLY be found in Him. TRUE meaning, TRUE completeness, TRUE love. It is found in WHO YOU ARE in Christ. And there is NOTHING more beautiful than that! 😉 \0/ \0/ \0/
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