As Sent Ones, Disciples show
love to themselves because they are
fearfully and wonderfully made
Are we supposed to love ourselves? You won’t find a bible quote for it. The bible denounces self-love (2 Timothy 3:2) and self-importance (Philippians 2:3).
But God does advocate a sense of worth ("you are worth more than many sparrows" – Matthew 10:31). If you agree with God, the end result is a sense of self-worth.
And this week we add that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
As followers of Jesus, we’re taught to care for others as we care for ourselves — this is clearly a form of love. Jesus even uses the word love to express such actions when he quotes Leviticus 19:18: "Love your neighbor as yourself". Part of loving ourselves the way God loves us is seeing ourselves the way God sees us:
• In Christ, I am fearfully and wonderfully made and will praise God for it!
Your Biblical Identity in Christ
Psalm 139:1-16
Sexual Immorality
You have searched me, LORD, and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
~ David,
1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Pondering Point
In Psalm 139:1-16, it shows that our heavenly Father is intimately acquainted with us, knowing us better than we know ourselves. Consider this: With an intimate knowledge of our secrets, regrets, and worst moments, He still loves us! It’s a good thing He is FOR us and not against us! God is fully aware of our sinfulness, evidenced by His sending Jesus and requiring the death of His own dear son to facilitate forgiveness. Yet in love, our Heavenly Father chooses to see beyond our sins, even promising to forget as well as forgive them (Jeremiah 31:34).
Let Your Heavenly Father’s loving way with you become your loving way with yourself. Though you may not be able to forget what you’ve done, lovingly forgive yourself as God forgives you. Rather than dwell on your mistakes, dwell on God’s goodness. Thank God for the life and death and resurrection of Jesus that redeems you from the deadly effects of sin through faith in Him.
Prayer
Father God, You are good and Your love endures forever. Thank You for making me in fearful and wonderful ways. And thank You for loving me despite my sinful shortcomings and failures. Help me love and forgive as you do, both in regards to myself and others. In Jesus I pray. Amen.