Just Like My Family
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 MSG
Often growing up, people told me just how much I looked like my mom. And I really do. We share the same big green eyes, face shape, and skin color.
I am blessed to have these features, and I love my mom too. She was always my hero. She sings like an angel and has a contagious launch and joy-filled spirit about her. It is always joyous to be in her company.
But being raised as a woman in my family also included a negative body image. It was a struggle I heard often growing up, and because I looked just like my mom, I concluded I should have a negative body image as well.
I have read that this is where most negative body images come from. We pick up on it when we are young. Plus, most of us were raised in a secular culture that truly believes in genetics and says creationism is a myth. All we have is a lie. The lie that we are created by genetics alone and therefore destined to be just like our families.
But whose image does the Bible say we are created in? Does it say we are created in the image of our parents or the image of God? And what does God's Word say about how we are formed? Does it say we are formed in the pattern of DNA handed down from our parents, or does it say we are formed first inside, then out by God?
Isn't this an interesting mindset shift? For me, I feel like God has been questioning me on many things like this lately. There are many things I believe that are more from being raised in a post-Christian secular culture than I learned from the creator of the universe.
Could that be you too? Maybe the first step on this journey to believing God that you are fearfully and wonderfully made is first believing He is the one who made you.
So while, yes, God, in His wisdom about how fun it is to look like family members, may have allowed some resemblance, you were not simply made by genetics telling cells to split and form. The master artist handcrafted you. The same master artist who created the moon, the stars, and every beautiful wildflower blooming on the mountainside formed both your insides and outsides.
Live out the Truth:
It's time to make the mind shift to who created us and how we were created. So this week, let's meditate on Psalm 139:13, while we dig deep into our core beliefs to answer the following questions.
Do you resemble someone in your family? Did this shape your beliefs of how you were made?
Do you believe things like, "all of my family is plump, so I am too?" Or, "my whole family has big thighs"? I hear these types of statements often, and I have said these often. These are statements of beliefs.
If you believe anything other than being formed by the master artist, ask God to help you believe Psalm 139:13 as the ONLY truth to how you were formed both inside and out.
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Psalm 139 was a life changing chapter as a brand new believer.