#MirrorMirror: God's Workmanship

“For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.”  Ephesians 2:10

I love to create things, but often once I’ve “finished” I start remaking it again.  I just want it to be perfect.  I know that I’m not going to make it perfect.  There is no way.  I’m only human.  But, God…He is perfect, and therefore He has the ability to perfect things.  That includes me.  

Now, before I get lots of “But, wait one minute” comments, hear me out.  I am not perfect.  I know this all too well.  There are so many areas of my life that I wish were better.  But, God, being all-powerful and all-knowing, has never made a mistake.  He gave us free will.  That is not a mistake.  We were made the way He intended us to be made.  That is not a mistake.  No matter what we have chosen to do with His gift of life, He can and will use it all for the good of those who love Him.  He also can help me see how I can become more Christlike until that day when I will be perfected in Heaven.

When I go into an art museum, I always see how beautiful the work is.  But, I don't stop there.  I think about my own work and begin to compare it.    I think about how much more realistic their work is compared to mine.  I think about their lines, their seams, their brush strokes, and their poetry compared to my own amateur attempts.  While it's ok to critique my work to make it better, I should not use those times to criticize myself.  The ability level between me and those artists is a big gap that I'm trying to jump on my own.  With hard work, time, and practice I can build a bridge to that level.  But I can't just jump there.

This is the same principle I have to keep in mind when I look at myself.  It's okay to critique and look for ways to improve myself.  However, I should not cross the line into criticizing myself.  You may be thinking, "I thought critiquing and criticizing were synonyms.  Not exactly.  Critiquing has the purpose of improving something.  Criticizing has a worse connotation of pointing out shortcomings without help for improvement.  So, critiquing equals helpful, while criticizing equals hurtful.

So, when we criticize who we are it's equivalent to criticizing God as our creator. His work, like Him, is perfect, and I am His work. I have a wonderful friend that I can call or text at any time and vent about anything.  I have cried and laughed with this woman many times, and she even helped to encourage me to write a book.  But, when I call her and start to insult myself she always says the same thing.

“Hey, that’s my friend you’re talking about.”

What value she places on me, and I’m just her friend.  How much more do I mean to God, who created me?  When I insult myself, I’m insulting God’s workmanship.  So, now when I look around and begin to say how I don’t measure up to the other women around me, I try to remember that I’m talking about God’s creation.  I better watch what I say, even if it's only in my head.

Again I’m not saying that I’m perfect because I’m still a work in progress.  Sometimes I'll read a post and question my abilities as mother, wife, daughter, sister…you name it.  But, I’m the clay, and God is the potter.  I cannot say to the Potter that I should have had fewer curves or thinner handles.  I certainly can’t say that I’m a vase and not a bowl.  The creator knows what I must carry and for what I must be used.  That might just mean I have a bigger base than other pots or that I am shorter or taller or whatever HE decides I must be.

When we start criticizing ourselves we are saying to God, “I know better than you do.”  And, that, sister is a dangerous phrase to start using.  Instead of finding fault in yourself, God’s workmanship, thank Him for all the wonderful traits He has blessed you with.