ENJOY WHO GOD HAS CREATED YOU TO BE
It can be so easy to let the words of others crush our spirit. It can be especially painful when those words come from people close to us, people we love, trust, or hoped would understand us. Sometimes the opinions, criticism, rejection, or misunderstandings of others can weigh so heavily on our hearts that we begin questioning who we are.
Whenever someone comes against me with words based on their own perceptions, opinions, or misunderstandings, I always go back to God’s Word.
Because people may speak from wounds, emotions, assumptions, or limited understanding but God speaks from truth, grace and love as so should we.
We all have areas where we feel insecure or inadequate. Sometimes we compare our gifts, our appearance, our personalities, our calling, or even our healing journey to someone else’s.
But often, the very places where we feel weakest are the places where God wants to reveal the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Jeremiah 1:5 reminds us:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”
Friend, before anyone spoke a word over your life, before the world formed opinions about you, God already knew you. He had already called you. He already saw purpose in you.
I get asked often the following question(s) or I have even asked myself the following question(s) is certain season(s) in my life.
What part of your life do you tend to compare to others?
What part do you wish you could change about yourself?
Those are deep questions. And whenever I encounter questions like these, I always go back to the truth of God’s Word.
In 1 Corinthians 12:18-20, Scripture says:
18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Think about that for a moment.
God did not accidentally create you. He did not randomly assign your personality, your gifts, your story, your experiences, or even the journey you have walked through. Scripture tells us that He intentionally placed every part exactly where He desired it to be.
The body of Christ has many parts, and every part matters.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” and the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” Every part has purpose. Every part has value. Every part serves as a function that contributes to the health of the whole body.
And here is what is so powerful: Scripture tells us that the parts that often seem weakest, unseen, or least important are actually the most necessary.
Isn’t that beautiful?
Because sometimes the world teaches us to value visibility over faithfulness. We celebrate platforms, titles, recognition, influence, and outward success. But God often values the hidden places, the quiet servant, the encourager, the intercessor, the compassionate listener, the one who faithfully shows up for others when no one else sees.
Some people are called to lead from stages, while others are called to lead through gentleness, wisdom, prayer, mercy, hospitality, encouragement, or simply loving others well and simply being present with people in their suffering.
The truth is, your story matters. Your personality matters. Your healing matters. Even the painful places God has brought you through can become part of the way He ministers to others through you.
God intentionally created every person with unique gifts, personalities, experiences, and assignments.
But above all those gifts, one of the greatest gifts we can have is love.
1 Corinthians 13 reminds us:
“If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
In other words, we can have knowledge, wisdom, talent, leadership ability, influence, or spiritual gifts but without love, none of it carries the heart of Christ.
Love is what transforms people.
Love is what makes people feel seen.
Love is what creates safety for healing.
Love is what allows us to sit beside someone in their brokenness and remind them they still have value.
And that kind of love is not weakness. That is the very heart of Jesus.
So if you’ve ever felt overlooked, unseen, “not enough,” or wondered if your life carries purpose, I want to remind you today:
God did not make a mistake when He created you.
You are a necessary part of the body of Christ.
And the very things you once thought disqualified you may actually become the very places God uses most powerfully to help someone else heal.
In Galatians 5, God reminds us that the fruits of the Spirit are part of who God created us to be. Just as every part of the body has purpose, God formed each of us with the capacity to reflect His character through the fruits of the Spirit. When God created us, He did not create us empty or without purpose. He created us in His image, with the ability to love, to care, to show compassion, kindness, gentleness, patience, faithfulness, and self-control.
The fruits of the Spirit are not just qualities we try to “earn” someday. They are evidence of God working within us and through us. They are part of the spiritual foundation of who we are meant to become as we walk with Him.
These fruits are deeply connected to the body of Christ because every one of us has been created with the ability to reflect God’s nature in different ways.
And here’s what I’ve come to understand:
Our spiritual gifts flow best when they are rooted in the fruits of the Spirit. Because if we do not allow the fruits of the Spirit to mature within us, we can misuse the very gifts God has given us.
A person may have the gift of leadership, but without love and gentleness, leadership can become controlling.
Someone may have the gift of teaching, but without patience and kindness, teaching can become harsh or prideful with their words.
Someone may have discernment, but without compassion, discernment can wound instead of heal.
That’s why the fruit matters so much. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that God is transforming us from the inside out. And honestly, recovery has taught me this in a very personal way.
As I began walking through healing, surrender, honesty, accountability, and allowing God into my broken places, something began changing inside of me. The fruits of the Spirit started becoming more visible in my life not because I became perfect, but because healing created space for God’s character to grow within me.
Recovery taught me compassion. It taught me humility. It taught me how to recognize suffering in others and remind people and even remind myself that we are not alone in our journey.
The greatest spiritual gifts of all: the ability to love others well.
To sit with someone in their pain.
To listen without judgment.
To extend grace.
To encourage hope.
To remind someone they still have value even in the middle of their struggle. That my friend, is ministry.
Because if we are not embodying the fruits of the Spirit, we will never fully walk out the spiritual gifts God has entrusted to us the way He intended.
Our gifts were never meant to draw attention to ourselves. They were meant to reflect the heart of Christ. And the greatest ministry we will ever have is loving people the way Jesus loves people.
Because God is not just trying to give us gifts to use; He is shaping our hearts to reflect Him.
And To love others well.
I end with the following: The world may try to label you by your failures, wounds, insecurities, or struggles, but God speaks something different.
Ephesians 2:10 says:
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
Psalm 139:13-14 says:
“For you created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Zephaniah 3:17 says:
“He will take great delight in you… He will rejoice over you with singing.”
And Isaiah 49:16 says:
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”
Friend, when people misunderstand you, reject you, overlook you, or speak words against you, remember this:
Their inability to see your value does not change the truth of who God says you are.
You are loved.
You are valuable.
You are chosen.
You are seen.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Now, this does not mean there are not areas in our lives that God wants to refine or heal.
There may be unhealthy habits, emotional wounds, distractions, pride, fear, insecurity, or broken patterns we need to surrender to Him.
That is part of growth.
That is part of healing.
That is part of recovery.
God refines us because He loves us, not because we lack value but because He values us!
So today, I want to encourage you:
Stop allowing comparison or the harsh words of others rob you of the beauty of your design.
Know who God says you are.
Stand firmly in your identity in Christ not in who people tell you to be, not in who culture says you should become, but in who God already created you to be.
Because at the end of the day, when lies come against you, when rejection comes, when insecurity tries to rise up again, go back to the truth.
God formed you.
God knows you.
God delights in you.
And God still has purpose for your life.
