Maneuvers - No. 29
I Love
Who You Are
Maybe you grew up thinking you didn’t matter much. Maybe you heard you were supposed to ignore your emotions—or at least not burden others with them—because no one cared to listen.
When we grow up thinking this way, it’s so easy to slip into a self-hating mindset. Soon, we start to view ourselves as uninteresting, uninspiring, unlovable. We punish ourselves for who we are without giving ourselves a chance to see who we could be.
If you’ve ever felt this way, friend, please know that this isn’t how Jesus thinks about you. And it’s not how he wants you to think about yourself either. Because he made you.
The truth is that God is a masterful artist, a creator more talented and brilliant than even the greatest geniuses throughout history. Just look outside and you’ll see what we mean. Everything he touches spills over with beauty and meaning.
So why is it that, when it comes to us, we don’t see it that way? Why can we so easily see God’s exquisite artwork in nature… but we can’t see it in ourselves?
How can we admire the beautiful complexity of others’ emotions, personalities, and skills but not our own?
Maybe if we could capture the way God looks at us, if we could just see ourselves the way he sees us—maybe we understand his heart a little better. No, more than that. We could hear him, feel him, love him better.
It’s possible, friend. We can know him better—and know ourselves better—as we allow him to replace our thoughts with his own. Our eyes for his. Our hurts for his grace.
Ready for that glorious exchange?
01.
The Message
“Sometimes we don’t have to talk. When you are with me, it is okay to be quiet. I hear your prayers, the deepest pleas and questions. But although I hear them, I wonder if you are hearing them too. What I mean is, are you being quiet enough—with me, with yourself, to know what it is you think and feel and know?
“It is one thing to acknowledge your emotions—to recognize anger or excitement or happiness when you feel it. But how often do you go deeper? How often do you readily plunge into unknown water, the deeper places of your heart—and investigate a bit? How often do you practice enjoying your own company? Or wrestle with the complexities of your heart? You are fascinating and wonderful, a most amazing puzzle. I don’t want you to take your self for granted.
“I can find myself speechless when I am with you sometimes. My love for you is so great I like to just be with you and not speak. You know what that is like, right? When you love something so much that you can’t find the words to express the depth of your feelings? When I am with you, I can feel like that. It is the best feeling, loving you like I do.
“So would you like to join me? Sit with me while I sit with you? Give yourself space to receive my presence? For in that space, you will find a part of yourself you have not become so deeply acquainted with yet. You will find the you that you are becoming. You will find the you I have always seen and known—the true and glorious person I’ve dreamed you up to be.
“Come, sit with me. Let’s listen to what is unspoken. Let’s watch what is unseen. Let’s wait for what is coming. Let’s behold what is newly forming. You will like what you come to know. Not all the parts, at first, maybe. But in the purifying, I promise, you will find gold.”
02.
Listen
What stood out to you the most in today’s message? What phrase or question pierced your heart? Focus on that one phrase and write down your response to Holy Spirit.
03.
Think
“For we are God’s masterpiece” (Ephesians 2:10a, NLT).
1. What experiences have caused you to view yourself as unimportant or uninteresting, or perhaps even dangerous and unlovable? What fears hold you back from deeply understanding yourself and enjoying who you are?
2. Who is God shaping you to be? Can you see it yet? Just glimpses, maybe? In your journal, describe the “gold” God is revealing in you as he purifies your life.
04.
Trust
Why is it so hard for us to see the creative masterpiece that we really are?
Could it be because so many of us still see our old nature instead of the new, flawless nature Jesus has created in us?
It’s true that, before we believed in Jesus, we weren’t perfect or exquisite. Yes, we were still a valuable reflection of God’s original artwork. But because of sin, it was a cracked and dirty reflection at best. A shell of who we were meant to be.
But, friend, that’s not who we are anymore.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation,” Paul told the Corinthians, “the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB).
It doesn’t make us holier to focus on or punish ourselves for the flaws that defined who we used to be. Can we say that again so that it sinks in?
It doesn’t make us holier to focus on our past flaws.
Each one of us is an original masterpiece created by God himself. That includes you, friend. Our heavenly Father poured time, thought, and energy into shaping you. Thinking and planning of what your personality would be like, your appearance, your abilities and talents, your passions and delights… he was so intentional in how he crafted you.
And he wants us to enjoy his work. To go deeper than simply acknowledging what we’re feeling and thinking so we can discover why.
Why do you think the way you do? What drives you? What fuels your heart? What devastates you? And why?
The more we discover who we are—and who we’re becoming—through Jesus, the more we can move in sync with our Creator. Our relationship with Jesus goes from stilted steps to effortless choreography.
So right now, will you join us in that discovery? Good… Let’s pull out our journals and finish these sentences:
“It thrills me to see God move in my life by…”
“Every morning, I wake up thinking about…”
“When I hear about … I just want to weep.”
Now, let’s dig a little deeper and ask ourselves “Why?” after each of these sentences. What do we learn about who we are, about the “gold” God is forming in us? It’s okay if we don’t have all the answers right away. Remember, this is a process that takes time and patience as we investigate and sort through what we discover. Holy Spirit will help us find the answers, but for now, the most important thing we can do is simply sit with him, ask him, and trust him to guide us to our “why.” For right now, let’s write down whatever he shows us.
And now, let’s pray…
05.
Pray
Heavenly Father, thank you for taking the time to make me who I am. To shape everything about me in a way that is absolutely exquisite. I know I’m flawed. I won’t deny that! But you’ve made me new… and you’re continuing to make me into something new day by day.
And the more I surrender and let you work, the more I see Jesus in my life. In my responses and my thoughts. I want more of that, more of Jesus, more of your love flowing through me.
Help me to dig deeper in understanding myself and even enjoy who I am. But always keep that enjoyment tethered to you. Don’t let it slip into pride. Help me keep looking at you—amazed by you, needy for you.
I love you, Father. I love you. I love you. I love you.
Amen.
Waving the banner with you,
