you

Dear You,

It’s so easy to look at the woman across the room, across the sanctuary, across the world wide web and think: “I should be more like her.” We compare clothes, talents, how many friends we have on Facebook. We crave validation and surely if we can be like the people we admire then we will have it.

Yet God doesn’t compare you to anyone else. Not that friend whose house looks like a spread in a magazine. Not the woman in your church who knows how to make everyone laugh at just the right moment. Not even the leader who seems to have a direct line to Jesus while you feel like you’re dialing the wrong number half the time. Not to any of those—or any other woman who has ever been or ever will be. When you gave your life to Jesus you became a “new creation.” Listen closely: it doesn’t say “a new human being.” A new creation.

In other words, God made you into something the world has never seen before and never will again.  Women struggle so much with comparison.

You are a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, a custom design, a work of art.

And when there is only one of something, it’s impossible to compare it.

That means since there’s only one of you, you can’t be compared either. When God looks at you, he sees his handiwork and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. That’s it. The only standard he ever asked you to meet is the one Jesus met in your place. So you are free from being compared.

What do you do instead? Be the you he has created, called, and redeemed you to be. Develop your strengths. Discover your gifts. Do whatever you can to serve those around you with what you have. Display his glory by living fully alive, by beautifully reflecting the part of his image he has crafted into you.

Give yourself permission to stop comparing. And instead start celebrating who you are and the God who made you that way. Then let your heart feel his response…

His incomparable joy.

Someone Who Loves You

{Genesis 1:31, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Philippians 2:1-11}