Can you remember a time as a little one when you felt utterly delighted in by a parent or caregiver? I so hope you can. I remember when I used to put on performances in our den at home as my parents reclined in their chairs and watched "the show." I would dance to a good beat and sing into a hairbrush and I loved for them to watch me -- if I could make them laugh it felt like the equivalent of a standing ovation (or better said, what I imagine a standing ovation would feel like after a stellar performance)! And boy were my performances stellar ;)
Do you remember as a child the excitement you had the night of a long rehearsed dance recital? Or the afternoon of a big tennis match against a rival opponent? Or a weekend piano recital that you had spent hours practicing for? Or what about the giddy anticipation the morning of your birthday party?
Oh the jitters and butterflies! Yes a love of the sport, a love of the arts and music but also...All eyes on YOU!
The honest truth is that we love to be...
seen
delighted in
celebrated
and applauded
This is important for children. They should be made to feel special because they are! Neglect, criticism and disinterest have deeply devastating effects on human hearts. Somehow, though, this desire to be seen and celebrated doesn't go away as we pass from childhood into adulthood. What was once acceptable and innocent often morphs into something ugly - ego, pride and a love of self.
It's not wrong to want to seen, even as an adult. It feels a little wrong sometimes though, doesn't it? I know it can for me. I am nothing. I must decrease so that Christ can increase. Absolutely, yes! I'm not suggesting otherwise, B U T what I am affirming is that you were made to be seen.
The *R E A L* question is then...
What audience is my heart finding fulfillment in?
This is the danger of social media. Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook - they call out to this longing wired into the human soul - this inner longing to be seen and celebrated.
We were made to be seen and to be celebrated by ONE. The One who can make us fully whole. The One who can fill that canyon bigger than the Grand Canyon in our hearts. The One who redeems our lives from the pit and crowns us with love and compassion. The One who can melt your anxiety and replace it with peace. The One who whispers acceptance and love in the face of your insecurities. The One who can bring healing to that corner of your broken heart that you have tried to keep unseen from everyone around you.
You are seen and celebrated by your loving Heavenly Father. You no longer need the likes, clicks, or praise of men. You no longer need the applaud of the world. You have the delight of the Father!
God made me an enneagram 7, the "enthusiast" and he loves my personality - he made it! God made me, more curvy and much less lean that many women, and he loves me that way - he sculpted me in my mother's womb with his very hands! I have a lot of moles and I often talk too loud- God loves these things about me!
God made YOU, in all your uniqueness. There is not another you!
Bask in that today, friend. You are LOVED, ACCEPTED AND COMPLETE in Christ and his finished work on the cross! You are so seen and loved that God went through great personal pain to restore relationship with you -- He sent Jesus, for YOU. You are seen and loved. I am convinced that Christian women should be the most confident women in the world! What a testimony it would be to our insecure, female world if we actually believed the things God says about us! God-confidence is a beautiful, freeing thing.
We don't need Instagram or Tik Tok followers to tell us our worth. We have the precious Word of God. Our identities are found there! We can be confident in the Lord because he sees us, he is the artist that made us and his work is B E A U T I F U L. We have an audience of One and his delight is out the wazoo for us.
For further study about who God says you are in Christ: (these are just a few of many!)
1 Corinthians 12:27
Ephesians 1:3-8
Ephesians 2:4-6
Colossians 1:13-14
Colossians 2:9-10
Galatians 3:26
Galatians 4:7
Isaiah 43:4
1 Peter 2:9-10
Exodus 19:5
Deuteronomy 7:6
Song of Solomon 4:1
Psalm 139:13-14
Galatians 3:13
Hebrews 10:10
2 Corinthians 5:21
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