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| {Art print by Megan Gilger.} |
***This was written 14 years ago - while I was a student at the U of A***
I
was just driving home from school and I couldn't get here fast
enough. My heart is heavy for you. God loves you so much!!! Yes,
it is true, He designed you. But then the miracle began, He created
you! He took something that is considered to be dirty, dusty, gritty
and dark; and created it into something wonderful. From the dust of
the earth He molded and shaped you into man. He created something
beautiful; that was not only designed by Him, but that was created
for Him.
Genesis
1:26-27 Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image,
according to our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the
earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So
God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created Him;
male and female He created them.
In
whose image have you been created?
Watermark
said it best whenever they sang, “I was created to love you. I was
created to need you. I was created to know you. And I am a miracle,
'cause heaven is a part of me, and you are the air that I'm
breathing.”
You
might be tired of hearing about the creator, but eternity rest on
this principle. GOD IS CREATOR. In the previous chapter we talked
about when we love God, we learn to love ourselves. Well, the idea
continues... Whenever I believe I was created in the image of God, I
will be changed forever.
You
are a precious child of God; created by the Master of the universe.
You've been specially designed and uniquely created to be in the
image of Christ {In the image of Christ} what an image... nothing
could be more beautiful. Of
all the things that God created, He made you in His image. It seems
to me, that if you are created in the image of Christ, then you have an
enormous responsibility to allow Him to reflect His beauty through you.
I
was designed, created and given life through Him. He gave it to me
as a gift. At the age of 7 I gave my life back to Him. That is when
I made Jesus the Lord of my life {that was also called my salvation}.
My body was now His. I don't think I realized the many dimensions of
my life that this decision would effect; but I did it and I knew I
would never be the same.
My
body was His. My life was His. He would guide and direct me from
that moment on because I was now a reflection of Himself. He is
daily teaching me that whatever I do with my body, I do to Him. This
thought can be extremely overwhelming and nerve racking, unless I
learn to surrender. Whenever I learn to do this, I realize He has my
best interest at heart.
2
Corinthians 3:18 But
we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
Do
you feel a responsibility to honor God with your body?
What
can you do or stop doing with your body that will bring Him honor?
I
am now 21 years old and I have never had a boyfriend. My peers
throughout high school said it was because I was {fat and ugly} but over the years God has slowly revealed to me His truth, enabling
me to understand that I am a reflection of Him.
I haven't had a
boyfriend because He has not yet allowed it. I know that throughout
my high school life I wanted one very badly {and to this day that
desire has not left me}. But, something deep within me says, “Amy,
this is my body. I want it to reflect myself. Please, honor me with
it, even though it is hard. Wait for my timing!”
I don't think I
understood what God was doing at the time. I just thought He was
being mean by not giving me the deepest desire of my heart. But now
I realize what He is doing. He's shaping and molding my body into
what He longs for it to be. My
creator, has never stopped working on me. He daily asks me to
reflect His beauty by surrendering my dreams to Him. Some days are a
lot easier than others. Even on the bad days He is there, asking me
to let Him be in control. For some reason at this point in my life,
he wants me to be His and His alone. Through all of the lonely
weekends and sorrow filled nights, my Creator is with me. He's
shaping me, hour by hour and minute by minute to reflect Himself. He
is again telling me, “I will make you into my image, if you will
let me.”
Looking
back, I wouldn't change anything. My weekends are often long and I
have to admit, it does get pretty depressing sometimes. But my Creator knows, He knows his creation. And He longs for the best
through that creation. Now I am slowly beginning to realize that
when He looks at what he has made He says, “...It is good.”
