More than Whats in the Mirror

Today I sit and prepare for youth group on self image. I personally have always struggled with self image. I come from a family of beautiful people who are all incredibly intelligent.  No one in my family has put that pressure on me but I have put the pressure on myself. I constantly compare myself to my brothers and even my sister. So for me the best help I can find is from God directly in the Bible.  As I look through Bible verses there is one that sticks out to me.

Ephesians 2:10 "God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do."

Now there are many reasons why this bible verse stuck out from the rest for me, but there are two main reasons that separate themselves from the rest. First, the very first part of the verse tells you everything you really need to know about self image. GOD has made us. God has never created junk, but creates things with a purpose and beauty.  While living in Juneau you experience a ton of rainy days. Constantly searching for beauty in all the muck. Then comes about what we call a sucker hole. Where that little bit of sunshine breaks through the clouds and for a moment we see the beauty. The funny part about the sucker hole is that we focus solely on that moment. While God is constantly looking through the clouds knowing that God had created everything for beauty and greatness. This example relates directly to our own self image problems. Though we look in a mirror and see all that muck and darkness, there is always a sucker hole. We may not see that beauty and the sucker hole may take forever to come around, but God is constantly looking the clouds to see that beauty in us every single day.

Now, that only looks at the first half of that verse. The part that really hits me in the heart is "which he has already prepared us to do."  So recently I have had this sudden urge to do these random "courageous" acts. I mean I just moved 5000 miles away from home knowing no one.  I worked at a summer camp in the Blue Ridge mountains where for fun we went and jumped off 50 ft waterfalls. I am dying to go running with the bulls and plan to do it one day. So the other day my friend asked me "Jake, why do you do these things?" In my heart only one thing felt right. God does not create us to sit and watch the world pass us by, but he calls us for greatness. Now, I am not telling anyone to have the same mindset I do because I would have to say some of the things I do are just plain stupid. But in all things we do we should know that God has created us for this. We should do it to the best of our ability and not look back. God will empower us to break through any wall and give us the abilities to do his work.

"God does not create us for normality, but to be courageous and change the lives of those people around."