Galatians 6:15
It doesn’t matter whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation.
Ever feel like you just keep getting “passed over”? Like you are damaged goods? Maybe you think you are so dinged up it is not worth getting off the shelf to do anything. Perhaps you did not get the latest promotion or invited to the latest party. Maybe friends left you out of an outing. When you feel “dented” you feel no self-worth. You feel dusty and out of the loop because no one is choosing you. You want so desperately to get down of the shelf and move about to feel useful but the dented thinking is holding you back. What if you just sat there for days and no one even gave you a second look? Perhaps they pick you up and speak to you as if you cannot hear them, “My goodness! What happened to this one?” and then putting back on the shelf hoping someone else will take care of it. This is what happens when life hurts. When we get dropped and pushed or shoved and stomped on. When we get “labeled” and it rips and people see who we really are and all of sudden they don’t like us so much anymore. What they fail to see is that there is still something on the inside.
Whatever it might be, these feelings of inadequacy are just lies of the devil. I am here to tell you that God thinks you are beautiful, adequate, worthy, whole, complete and undamaged. To God you are like the rose still on the vine in full bloom because He sees you for who He desires you to become. It does matter what your label looks like or what your outer looks say about you; what matters is what is on the inside. If you are carrying Jesus on the inside and you know who you are in Christ then it matters not what the outside world is buying because you are already bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ who died on a cross because He loved you that much! So start to shake the label off. Stand up straight and claim your victory today! Stop sitting on the shelf looking all damaged, get out there and be who God created you to be.
Begin to let people see who you really are and pay no attention to their remarks, only listen to the voice of God. For you see, in the end it will be you and ONLY you face to face with God. No one will be there to judge you or point out your flaws or label you or even declare that you are damaged goods. No, God will see you as His son or daughter and based on how YOU reacted and carried His Son with you He will tell you how proud He is of you. God is the only one who can pass judgement on anyone and yet we just seem to take it all in here on earth and accept it as truth when others judge us. Yup! I am sure there are some who think I am positively nuts with the things I put on my van windows, do I care? Nope, I am sharing LIFE with those around me. Matter of fact I was at work today and a customer made me come back to the drive thru window so he could see me face to face to tell me how awesome my van was!
I encourage you today to stop seeing yourself as damaged goods. You are made whole the moment you accept Jesus into your heart. You are worthy. You are Loved. You are accepted. You are chosen by God to be His child. Take a moment and soak all of that in. Close your eyes and really see yourself for a moment like God does. Okay, now SMILE! Repeat after me:
God Loves Me just as I am! (I can’t hear you) God Loves Me just as I am!
I AM Accepted and Loved, the labels are meaningless! (go ahead, say it)
I am a New Creation in Christ and from this day forward I will stop listening to the lies!
Feel better? I hope so. It is time for the Bride of Christ to burn off the labels and see ourselves as WHOLE and UNDENTED, perfect in the eyes of our Maker. Are you ready to rip of those labels?
Step Upon the Golden Road with Me! 
When I was a child, we lived in this huge apartment complex. I had good memories of making friends here and there, but there was one childhood friend that I stayed good friends with but we lost touch around the end of 8th grade and the friendship just sort of dangled from there. I’ll just name her Sha. Sha was quite an eye-catcher. I used to envy her almost in every aspect possible. Her parents had the money, she had tons of friends, toys, always seemed like she was going somewhere exciting, her family would visit (my family was states away and we rarely got to visit. I can honestly only remember visiting my cousins, grandmothers, aunts etc about four to five times in my entire life), getting the grades and honor rolls. I could go on. There were a lot of kids around and every time Sha came into the picture, I seemed to be invisible. I was a very adventurous and creative child during those years and I usually set up all the games and ideas and I just felt so defeated when all the kids were easily drawn to Sha.
I had another friend who lived right BESIDE me and her name was Diamond. She was a very pretty girl, very cheerful and my mom used to babysit her a lot. We even went to daycare with each other. However, when Sha discovered that there was a potential friendship between her and Diamond, that was the end of me. Diamond moved and never told us where she moved to. Sha knew. Sha eventually moved as well and when I was invited to her new house, we unexpectedly went to visit Diamond and Diamond acted like she hardly knew me. It was all about Sha. I still have pictures of Diamond and I, and looking at them kind of makes me a little frustrated. My dad even went to go visit or accidentally bumped into her and Diamond acted like she barely my dad, the VERY man who helped look after her when her mom was at work and her dad was on duty.
The very last time I saw Sha was around 2007. She was in this brand spanking now blood red mustang. She was just pulling out from the hospital her mom worked at. She turned around and looked at me nonchalant and waved. The way she looked at me just seemed like she was ready to move on or that she was done with me. I am just someone she’d say hi or bye to. Maybe as adults we really don’t have anything in common anymore. As naive kids we probably saw the world the same together. I was probably in my Wendy’s Uniform then, making very little money and I felt like such a slob. This girl always seemed like she had everything in life. Me and my family had lived in those same apartments for 15 agonizing years. And this girl moved into almost every luxury house possible. Her mom moved a lot and never seemed like she stayed in one area for at least a year!
I would look at her Facebook from time to time, just being appalled at how much she and I changed. I still have a playful mind of a child whereas she’s now partying and experiencing a tiny fraction of drinking here and there which is okay. She’s all grown up and I still have these little fragments of memories in my head where I’m singing silly songs with her and playing games and watching movies and now none of that exists. I think what we had at THAT TIME was appropriate, but now, I guess things have changed. She has so many people on Facebook but did not bother to contact me, a LONG-time friend since we were freaking 5 at least. But I have not contacted her either. So, I guess that’s fair.
So, this is the closets testimony I can share that matches this blog. Fortunately, God has always put me in the path of good people than bad. So, I feel like I am desired by many. If God felt I was useless, He would have never allowed me to exist. So, there must be something here he needs me to do, still. 😀
I am just so glad that our angels, God and Jesus are not like us. Jesus desires us SOOOOOO bad, that he gave himself up to be tortured and killed. This is a being who SOOOOOOOOOOO badly and eagerly desires a relationship with each of us. He does not forget about us like our friends do or just the people in our lives. His interest in us does not fade like past friends, He is tight with us 24/7. There is a love out there that we don’t understand yet until we’re present face to face with God. I can’t wait to hear God laugh or hear him tell me some things that he was proud I did. Here on Earth we’re so used to being condemned and judged, but Imagine our Creator giving us all the A’s and B’s and in our life.
Thanks Brenda!!!
You just make me smile! Good thing you understand that God loves you just as you are. You are right where you are for a reason. Maybe He knew you did not need all the “glamour” that Sha had because He knew you have what it takes to be real. I love ya girl! Chin up, eyes on Jesus!