Self Worth

I'll start off by saying I am a Christian. I want to follow what God's plans are for my life. It may not always be easy and i may sometimes feel like taking things into my own hands but i have the desire and need to follow His plan for my life; not my own plan. I want God's light to shine brightly through me so that i can touch other people's lives and show them who God is. I'm not a great writer at all and you may find my blogs boring and maybe sometimes confusing but thats all right because if i know i'm touching at least one person's life on this blog then i know i'm doing something right. Now on to my first post!

I'm reading the book of Genesis right now. I'm past chapter 1 but there is some pretty strong stuff in that chapter that you might not see right away. I didn't. (I have a study Bible so i will be getting some of what i say out of it and just expanding on it.)

A lot of teenagers struggle with self worth. They go through that stage where their not good enough or pretty enough or "whatever" enough. Other kids make fun of them and call them names. And the sad thing is, we've all done it. Every single one of us has put someone else down multiple times even though when people put us down we get hurt too. And it's not always other kids putting us down. We also put ourselves down. In Genesis 1:26-27 it says '"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.' We were made in God's image. ("We have the ability to reflect his character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness.")That alone gives us self worth. I mean think about it, really think about it, we are sinners right? and God knew we would be sinners but He still chose us to be made in HIS likeness even though He is WAY better than us. Today self worth is based on 'possessions, achievements, physical atrractivesness, and public acclaim.' If we criticize ourselves, or others criticize us they/we are criticizing what God has made and the ablities He's given us. If you continue to read into the next few verses of Genesis 1 it tells how God viewed His creation as 'very good.' We are part of His creation and He made us for a good reason. The only person that we have to be valuable to is God. Sure it's nice to be valued by other people but if at times you don't feel valued or loved by other people, just tell yourself that God values you and thats enough because in the end He's the only one that matters! Especially today, teenagers are pressured to look "good" and if you don't feel that your pretty or that you look geeky or ugly or "not cool" its hard and you try to do everything you can to feel good about youself sometimes taking drastic measures or getting upset about it. Or maybe you think someone doesn't think your pretty or cool or something and it hurts you really bad. All those feelings and more can make you feel like junk and it hurts. (okay that kind of got confusing) but the bottom line is that you dont' have to be pretty on the outside, you just have to be 'pretty' on the inside, because if your pretty on the inside then you have more beauty on the outside than anyone else does. Show your beauty by being kind to others and showing them God's love. I encourage you to not look down on yourself but remember that God only looks at your inside beauty. He made you the way you are and He thinks your beautiful no matter what!

Alright people, i have to get to bed because i have to work tomorrow. Sorry if the post was boring or confusing but i hope it blesses you! God Bless!