God and Us

For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he Proverbs 23:7

This scripture is very broad; it goes beyond what we can imagine. It deals with how we see every aspect of our life. It encompasses all we believe about ourselves and the world around us, and what we become as a result. It has no respect for the idle words we speak, and reveals who we really are when no one is watching.

It has been my experience, and if you were to really search it out you would agree, that most people don’t know what to do with themselves. My wife deals with this problem a lot in ministering to teens and young adults, but I can tell you that it is not just a teen issue. It impacts everybody. And until we can successfully get a handle on who we are as individuals, we cannot have a stable and meaningful relationship with anyone else.

For example, if we hate ourselves, it will be difficult for us to love others. You see, love must be both given and received to be fully experienced. If we think that we are an idiot and cannot do anything right, then we will always feel like we are being mistreated by others. We will feel threatened and looked down upon, and our responses to life will be one of cynicism.

The reason why this is so important is because life consists of relationships. And when we have a problem relating to people, we will have a problem with life. When we do not know how we feel about ourselves, then that confusion impairs our interaction with our parents, relatives and friends. And when we have to deal with life alone, it’s unhealthy.

There are so many people in the world today who are confused about themselves. They suffer mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. Jesus not only saved us from sin, He saved us from everything the devil has tried to do to ruin our lives. Through Jesus Christ, we have been approved and accepted by God. If God had not accepted us, there would be no Calvary, no resurrection, no Pentecost or Holy Spirit. Once we understand that our most basic relationship begins with God and us, then we can start to relate to the people in the world.

It is not God’s desire for us to feel bad about ourselves. He doesn’t want us confused about our place in life. Nobody knows us better than God does. He knows our good as well as our bad, yet He accepts us anyway.

When we do something wrong, He doesn’t accept and approve of the wrong, but He accepts and approves of us. He keeps the two separated; therefore He is committed to us as individuals. We should never ever doubt that God loves us no matter what, and when we receive Him as our Savior and Lord, He never leaves us.

However it is that we see ourselves, if it’s not like God sees us, we have work to do. And the sooner the better. The lives of most people would be transformed instantly if they could see themselves differently. They simply need to love themselves, feel good about themselves and forgive themselves. God has forgiven us, so we should forgive ourselves.

If we do not love ourselves, that means we reject ourselves. To "reject" means, "to keep love away from". No one would consider us for anything worthwhile if we reject ourselves. Transplant patients are given medication to keep them from rejecting the life sustaining organs they have received. Once their body starts rejecting that organ, unless the process is halted, it’s over.

God wants us to have great relationships. But it starts with God and us. The Word instructs us in how to build and maintain healthy relationships. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it 1 Peter 3:10-11.

In order to have love for ourselves, we have to get it from God. We need to go to Him and receive love from Him. We have to believe that He loves us unconditionally and beyond measure. According to Romans 5:5, the love of God is shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. That means that once we have God’s Spirit in our heart, we can love others in a supernatural way. The love of God transforms us into dynamic individuals. If you want to be someone special and admired, show the love of God to people. Allow the Fruits of the Spirit to be expressed freely in you.

I am so glad that God is not like people. People reject us, criticize us and put us down. They judge us unfairly, prematurely, and they speak negatively concerning us. They presumptuously do this without knowing all of the facts about us. But God never does. That’s why it is so vital that we have God in our life.

When we think of relationships, we usually think of others and us. But we also have a relationship with ourselves. In fact, we spend more time with ourselves than we do anyone else. Therefore, if there’s anyone we need to get along with, it’s ourself.

If I were to have an argument with you, I can avoid you. If I wanted to, I can even move to another city. But I cannot get away from myself. We may work with difficult people, but at least we don’t have to bring them home with us. We don’t have to sleep with them or vacation with them. But we are with ourselves every second. And if we cannot find a place of peace within ourselves, then we are in big trouble.

If we are consistently having difficulty in relationships, we need to start with God and us. Look no further. We need to receive love from God and love God in return. God will help us love ourself, and that’s where the real healing starts. Until we get this in place, we can’t really love others. If we don’t get love from God, we have no love to give to anyone else.

The bible speaks of walking in love, and no matter how much we try to display loving behavior, until we receive love from God, we can’t give it to others; not even ourselves.

As long as we are individuals, there will always be the potential for disagreements. But disagreements shouldn’t cause relationships to break down.

Just look at the relationships of today. Marriages are filled with strife and turmoil. Family members are hostile toward one another. People cannot work together in harmony. The problem is not that husbands are insensitive, wives are demanding, kids are selfish and co-workers are lazy. The problem is that we fail to receive proper love from God. Therefore, love is insufficient and undeveloped rendering us incapable of building strong harmonious relationships.

We should learn to love ourselves. I don’t mean like these worldly macho people, but in a way that says, "God made me who I am, so I am happy with myself".

God loves me so I love myself. I don’t always do everything right (just ask my wife). But God accepts me so I accept myself. God is changing me daily, but He isn’t finished. But in the meantime, I accept myself.

Little by little, I will overcome these hang-ups. But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into that image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Corinthians 3:18. God started this, and He will finish it on time.

God accepts you and you need to accept yourself. You may have faults, but you have beauty also. God sees the potential in all of us; therefore we cannot disrespect God by dwelling on our faults.

God made us good, but sometimes we don’t do everything good. But we have to correct ourselves before we can correct our behavior. We have to get the first thing first. It starts with God and you.

By: Edmund Brown