Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Psalm 139:13-16

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 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, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

This verse has always been the closest to my heart. There are a few verses that I could list that would be considered close to my heart, but none closer than this one. Try and try as I might, I never seem to fully live by this verse. When I read this verse, I am constantly reminded that God created me uniquely and beautifully. I have been created- knit together- by a most precious and gentle creator. All my life I have struggled with self-worth. Am I a beautiful person? Am I lovely? Do people like me? Will I do anything extraordinary with my life? These questions have haunted my every step in life. Every day I face these questions. I have struggled with outward beauty more than inward beauty, I can honestly say. Always judging myself. And I noticed that when I judged myself, I would start to judge others. Comparing myself... even comparing myself to my best friend! I look at people and think "Oh, if only I had a body like hers" or "If only I was as proportioned as her" or "Wow, she definitely doesn't know how to dress to her body-type". On and on and on and on. It's this horrible cycle of judgement. Sometimes the judgement made me feel better about myself. But, most often, it made me hate myself even more.

But when I read this verse- this beautiful, RENEWING verse- I start to look at myself through God's eyes. And once I learn to do that, I start to realize that God isn't just saying all these amazing things about me. He is saying these reviving words to every woman and man, old or young, in the whole world. It's such an intimate, personal statement from God's heart. It captivates me every time I read it, because it is so intimate, and yet he is saying it to every one of his children. But, that doesn't make it any less personal. It makes it more personal. Because you start to realize that God not only created you so uniquely and beautifully, but he created every single person inside and out. He created in each person a different personality, a different DNA, a different way at looking at life, a different twinkle in their eye, not one thing the same in any two people. That is when I really learn to love people with the kind of love that God has for them. When I realize that he has created every person fearfully and wonderfully... in a different way.