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Category: Self-Esteem

The Special You

The Special You

Have you ever stared in amazement as you observed someone performing some spectacular feat?  Whether on an athletic field or court, on a stage, or in another medium, we’ve all observed with awe the abilities of others.  In fact, each of us personally knows some incredibly talented folks; people who possess talents we can’t begin to duplicate.  Whether it be knowledge, an acquired ability or an inherent skill, there are many at whom we marvel.

Maybe the one you admire is a coworker who has proven to be exceptional at her work; perhaps a classmate who excels at athletics; possibly an acquaintance with unearthly technological know-how; a family member who is a natural conversationalist; or a church member who sings like an angel.  Chances are it’s not just one you admire, but many!  The list of talented people is long.  As is the list of talents you clearly don’t have.

And the temptation is always there to feel profoundly inadequate, boringly normal, stunningly average and spectacularly un-special.

All of which is profoundly incorrect!

The Lord has actually created you to be completely adequate for whatever special tasks he wants you to do.  You happen to be fascinatingly unique; your personality, experiences, interests and abilities all intertwine into a wonderful you.  In fact, you are exceedingly special!

At the risk of sounding like a life-coach, let me share a few reasons why you are indeed special.

The first reason you are a very special you is because of the personal talents that you possess.  While you may be in awe of the skills that others have, be assured that others are in awe of yours!  Those things which come easy to you, that you take for granted, and that others often compliment you about … those are unique gifts God has given you.  Perhaps you aren’t even aware of the talents you display, but those close to you certainly see them.  Undoubtedly you  have other gifts that you haven’t even discovered yet.  But rest assured that God has built you with some very special abilities.

Not only does the Lord endow you with unique physical or mental talents, but the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit blesses every single believer with at least one, and often several, spiritual gifts.  The Apostle Paul writes, “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. … There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. … He distributes them to each one, just as he determines” (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4, 11).  There is great variety in the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit brings, but every Christian has been given at least one.  Yes, you are indeed special!

There’s a reason you were given your spiritual gift.  “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).  In 1 Corinthians 12, the Lord provides a striking illustration of this truth.  He shows how every believer is a unique part of the body of Christ, (the Church) and thereby serves a unique and vital role for the Body.  None of us is the whole body; however each of us is a significant part.  (1 Corinthians 12:27).  Without our special contribution (ability!), the body is lacking.  With it, the body prospers.  This is no small thing!

Then there is that mind-boggling truth that all Christians have Christ living in them.  So not only are you connected to the Body of Christ, but Christ is embedded in you.  (Galatians 2:20).  This alone makes you wonderfully special!

But I’ve saved the best for last.  You are special because you are dearly loved by the Lord.  Yes, it’s true that he loves everyone.  While that’s a key point, it’s not the key point in this discussion.  Rather, I want to impress upon you that the Lord loves you! Yes, you!  You personally! As a matter of fact, he loves you dearly.  If you happened to be the only sinner on earth, the only existing person on the planet, Jesus still would have given his life to redeem you.  God doesn’t do something like that for just anyone; he only does it for special people.

Listen and take to heart these words from Scripture:  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

All of which makes it clear; you are indeed incredibly special.  You are unique and wonderful.  David marveled at his (and our) specialness and was moved to praise God because of it.  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13-14).

Don’t let Satan or anyone try to tell you otherwise; there is no one else on earth like the special you!

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Our “Item Description”

Our “Item Description”

Were you aware that the term “item description” is a thing?  Not a general, generic thing, but an actual, important, frequently-used thing?  As a matter of fact, there is plenty of online attention devoted specifically to compiling effective item or product descriptions.   

What is an “item description?”  It’s the marketing summary that explains what a product is and why it’s worth purchasing.  The product description’s goal is to supply readers with information on the features and benefits of something so the customer is compelled to buy it (i.e. a sales pitch!).

Marsha Collier describes it this way, “After you hook potential bidders with your title, reel’em in with a fabulous description for your items. … Think infomercial (the classier the better).”  She then proceeds to provide a list of suggestions for writing a magnificent item description.  Here are some of her key points:

  • Write a factual description.
  • Accentuate the positive.
  • Include the negative.
  • Include short, friendly banter.
  • Be concise and to the point – don’t ramble!

As I considered the concept of item descriptions, I was intrigued by the thought of compiling our own descriptions.  How would we describe ourselves within the above parameters to “sell” others on how to view us?

Here’s my attempt at my own item (person) description:

Do you like hanging around with older, shorter guys?  Then this is your type of guy!  David is 5 feet 6 inches short (and getting shorter with age!) with gray hair (and getting grayer!).  But as they say, great things come in small, white-crowned packages!  And all the better if they have a few years of wear and tear.  Stocky but generally durable; usually quiet but able to carry on an animated discussion; fairly well-read and even knowledgeable of Scripture; a man of faith with an avid love of the outdoors, David would be an excellent companion, whether you have some chores that need doing, a craving to chat, a spiritual question, or a hankering for an outdoor adventure.  Your life will be better with David around!

I’m not sure if that is a solid item description of me or not.  What I can tell you is that the description was far more difficult to write than I anticipated it would be.  If you doubt this, try writing an item description of yourself yourself.  (Yes, there is supposed to be two “yourselfs” in that last sentence.)  I suspect you might struggle with the words as well.

That difficulty is compounded a hundred-fold were we to attempt to describe ourselves to God.   How do we “sell” ourselves to the holy, all-knowing Lord?  Thinking about it, here is what I came up with:

I have nothing to offer you, Lord.  Even my good qualities and various talents flow entirely from your creating hand.  I have disobeyed your every command in every aspect of my life.  I am a despicable sinner who deserves nothing but the worst from you.  But I cling in faith to Jesus, who lived and died in my place, atoning for my every atrocity, and then rose back to life.  That’s all I have, but in Jesus I trust I have it all.

That’s a drastically different person description than the first one, isn’t it?  But what else can I say about myself to the Lord almighty – to the perfect and perfectly righteous God?

And what might be the Lord’s description of me (and all who rely upon Jesus’ atonement)?  I’m only speculating, of course.  But in light of Scripture, I suspect He might describe me/us something like this:

Loved!  Forgiven!  Saved!  Blessed!

Or perhaps the Lord would revert to the words he inserted in the Bible?  This is more elaborate but top-notch item description:

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Now that’s a description I will gladly accept!

Even Me?

Even Me?

We humans have the capacity of character to demonstrate extraordinary things.  And especially Christians!  Things like courage, kindness, commitment, compassion,  dedication, selflessness,  love. and so much more!

We can even forgive others who have wounded us deeply … whether physically, emotionally, or both.  The Gospel can heal our heart and time can ease our pain to the point where we can perhaps pardon even those who have hurt us most and move on with our life.

It’s extraordinary character indeed, and a wonderful gift of God, to be able to mentally maneuver beyond the wrong someone has done to us and settle in a better place!

But many of us, (even Christians, who should know better and do better!), often have one drastic flaw in our makeup.  We might be able to forgive horrible wrongs others have done to us, but often enough can’t bring ourselves to forgive the wrongs we ourselves have done.

We forget to forgive ourselves.  Probably more accurately stated; we refuse to forgive ourselves.  The mistakes we have made are inexcusable … at least in our own minds.  We consider them deplorable, indefensible, unmentionable and unpardonable.

We know Jesus has secured God’s forgiveness for us.  (At least we as Christians should know this, because that’s the recurring theme throughout God’s Word!)  The Scriptures tell us, “… everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).  This is clear Christian doctrine – the heart of the Gospel and the heartbeat of our faith!

Yet all too often we struggle to forgive ourselves.  And if we struggle to forgive ourselves, the next logical step is to struggle to recognize God has forgiven us too.

To which I ask … how did we get bigger than God?  When did we take over the “allocating forgiveness business?”  Are we somehow and suddenly the king or queen of grace?  The answers are: no, we didn’t … no, we haven’t … and no, we aren’t!  Forgiveness is God’s territory.  Always has been; always will be.

When God writes to us, “Dear children, your sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus’ name” (1 John 2:12), he is writing as the ultimate authority on forgiveness, and he was referring to you and me and all who look in faith to Jesus as their Savior.  That’s full forgiveness, fully provided by God and fully effective!  Signed, sealed and delivered by Jesus … according to the Lord himself.

I’m convinced that our gracious God supplied us with so many vivid illustrations of his forgiveness in his Word because he knew that our “drastic flaw” would be forgiving ourselves.  Guilt would linger in us and harass our hearts; shame would discourage us and foster despair in our souls.  So the Lord was determined to provide us with concrete metaphors of his forgiveness that would be cemented in our psyche.

How does God describe our forgiveness in the Scriptures?  God calls it “forgiving our debts” (Matthew 6:12), “blotting out our transgressions, and remembering them no more” (Isaiah 43:25), “hurling all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19), and “removing our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).  Not to mention the oft-repeated pictures of redemption (bought back), justification (declared not guilty), and sanctification (made pure). 

Sinner, take these lovely pictures to heart, cherish them and pull them out repeatedly to gaze at their beauty yet again!  In Jesus, you are forgiven!

The simple point is this:  God has worked our forgiveness; it is accomplished!  God has spoken our forgiveness; it is fulfilled!  It is what our God and Savior has done and said that matters, and not our point of view.  We might try to conclude that we are forever tainted.  Thanks be to God; he says we are eternally clean!

It is time for us to stop crucifying ourselves; Jesus was crucified for us.  That is more than enough – even for you and me!