Before I became a Christian I hated just about everything about myself. I hated my hair, my nose, my lips, my hands, my voice and my fingernails, to name a few. I even hated the gifts God had given me by wishing for the gifts I did not have. I wished I could sing better and wished I had the gift of artistry. I was never content with myself and how I was created by God. By feeling this way, I learned I was actually hating God’s perfect creation and also hating Him.

How often, especially in today’s world, do men and women want to be different than how they were created by God? As I have expressed, I have been guilty of this in some way, just as most people are. Many people make decisions based on how they feel or what they think is right or wrong. What is wrong with that, you ask? This is a humanistic approach. Instead of God’s word being their authority, they have become their own authority. In other words, they are their own God and what they think or feel is right; more right than our True Triune God.

One danger in being our own authority is that our views change. We can have a certain view about something today and then change our minds and have a completely different view tomorrow or next month. We can be a Democrat for twenty years and then change our minds and agree with the Republican views. We can judge someone’s actions based on what we think is right in our own eyes and say, “If that was me I would never do that. I would have done this…” Suddenly, six months later we are faced with the same circumstances and what do we do? We do exactly as the other person did that we had previously judged, said was wrong and we would never do. 

Another danger in being our own authority is that we can hate something one day and love it the next. We can hate our hair one day and then love it the next. We can love a tattoo and ten years later regret our original impulsive decision. We can be mad at someone one day, makeup the next day and be happy with that person again. We can hate broccoli at some point in our lives and then all of a sudden love broccoli. 

Looking at this humanistic, self righteous approach, when were our views and decisions really the right ones? If you are honest with yourself, you will agree that this approach to rightness is contradictory. The point is, we and our feelings change, but the good news is that God and His word is unchanging. He and His word is the same today as it was 2000 years ago and will be 2000 years from now. God is Infinite, Infallible, Inerrant, Holy, Just, Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Sovereign, and all that is good. This is why it is so important for us to rely on God and His word as our authority.

After I became a Christian and began to study the Bible I learned how I was made perfectly in God’s image. Genesis 1:27,31 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…..And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” To be made in God’s image means that we reflect the character of God. God’s character is good and perfect.

God does not make mistakes. When He created a person male or a female He did not make a mistake. When He created me as a female with fine hair, short fingers and big hips, He did not make a mistake. Psalm 139:13-14 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God knows us inside and out. He even knows how many hairs we have on our head. Instead of being thankful for how perfectly God made me I allowed my feelings and what I thought was good and right to determine how I thought I should look and should have been created. By hating God’s creation of me, my greatest sin is that I was sinning against God.

We all struggle with sin and our struggles with sin show in different ways. We all struggle with some kind of addiction/idol. Some of us struggle with food addiction, while someone else may struggle with alcohol addiction. Some of us may struggle with idolizing our bodies while others struggle with idolizing a celebrity. The bottom line is that our idol is our self because we want to think and do what we want, not what God’s authority says. Since our falling into sin by Adam, we each want to be God. This means we think we are right in the way we think and feel and no one can control us or make us think in a certain way. We are all guilty of self-centered self-righteousness.

The good news is that once we become believers in Jesus by repentance, asking forgiveness, and asking Him into our hearts, He sends His Holy Spirit to begin good work in our hearts. We will still sin, but through the sanctification (spiritual growth) process of our lives, we begin to hate sin and sin less over time. Once I became a believer and studied the Bible I found contentment in who I am. God knew me before I was born and He loves me. He created me, and in the eyes of God, He created me perfectly. 

This truth is the same for you! Come to Jesus just as you are. There is no need to clean your life up before you come to Jesus. Come to Jesus and allow His Spirit to cleanse your heart, bring life into your soul and give you eternal life. Come to Jesus and you will be given life, freedom, fulfillment and a contentment you have longed for your whole life. Come to Jesus. Come!