Do you realize how AMAZING you are?!!

Do you know how PRECIOUS you are?!!

Can you recognize just how SPECIAL you are?!!

Here are some things to think about today.

You are a unique individual.  To be unique means to be the only one, without a like or equal.

You are a treasured combination of talents, traits, experiences, memories, joys, tears and abilities.  Never before has there been anyone like you in the history of the world.  Never again will there ever be another like you.  You are it.  Right here, right now.

You are a BEAUTIFUL TREASURE!

You are a PRECIOUS GIFT!

Why is that so hard to believe?  When I read these words, they sure lift me up.  Yet at the same time, there is this doubt that creeps in.  We wish for these things, to be beautiful, to be amazing, to be special and to be precious.  But, we always assume that we fall short of this mark.

So our internal conversation with ourselves becomes a list of arguments over why we can not be considered wonderful.  We list all of the supposed “defects” about ourselves that hold us back.  We think about all of the mistakes that we have made or that we continue to make.  We think of the list of things that we have not accomplished, but “should” have done by now.  We compare ourselves to the people we admire and look up to.  We use their talents and accomplishments as a benchmark for judging what it is to make a life successful.

We spend time and effort and energy to make sure that we put ourselves in our proper place; a place that falls short of amazing, wonderful and outstanding.  But that is not what we were made for, we were made for so much more.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (KJV)

We were made to let our light shine.  You were made to let your light shine.  I was made to let my light shine.

Repeat after me, yes out loud.  I was made to let my light shine!  Again.  I was made to let my light shine!

Yes, you were my dear.  You were made to let your light shine!

Notice that it does not say you were made to have a soft glow.  It does not mean that you were supposed to be a soft luster.  Do not try to hide who you really are or to be something you are not.  Even if there are others telling you what you should be, it is not what you were designed for.

No, we were made to shine!  We were made to emit rays of light like the sun does.  We were made to be bright, brilliant, vibrant and sparkly.

You were made to shine and sparkle!

If you are still on the fence about this, hesitant to really let go, and be who God made you to be, then here and now I give you permission to do so fully.

At this point, I know there are still doubts that are haunting us.  Perhaps there are questions that are starting to nag at us.  You may be thinking that this all sounds great, but I do not know who I really am or what God made me for.  Have you wondered about that?  I will be honest, I have wrestled with that.  I have taken surveys and inventories.  I have read numerous self help books about it.  I have tried to search deep within myself to find the answer.

As it says in Ecclesiastes 12:12 (NIV), “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.”  This only got me lost within myself and still having no answers, certainly nothing that I felt helped me to shine.  I needed a good teacher and I needed a good coach.  Who could teach and coach me on who I was meant to be?  Another person would simply review my exterior and make surface level recommendations.  I needed one who could see my heart.

“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV).

So I went to God.  God designed me.  God wired me.  God is the One who gave me this combination of talents, gifts, abilities and experiences.  God is the one who can help me to recognize what I was made for.  God can help me refine those gifts and talents.  God can help me to identify the purposes and the tasks that those talents should be dedicated to.  God is the one who will grow the gifts and talents.  He will bring a harvest of fruit.

God will do the same for you.  All you have to do is ask Him and spend time with Him.  God gave you all of Himself within the Holy Spirit to counsel you through each situation of every day.  Isn’t that an awe-inspiring gift?

Why does God do this?  Because God is love.  It is not just something that He does, it is who He is.  God is love.  God loves you.  That’s why He designed and hand crafted you.   That is why you can vibrantly shine your light, because you are loved by the God who brought light into being.

He did not design you for this time and this place so that you could try to be someone else.  God designed you to be you.  God made you different than everyone else for a reason.  Your combination of gifts and talents is one that I do not have.  My combination of gifts and talents does not belong to you.  But, it just may happen to be that your gift will perfectly meet a need that I have.  My talent may just be something that I can share with you to meet a need you have.

I think sometimes we are afraid to shine our light because we might embarrass ourselves.  Someone else might notice.  They might be uncomfortable with how brightly our light shines.  We may worry that if we really shined as brightly as we could we might take away that light of someone else.

Contradictory to this thought, there is really something truly amazing that happens.  If you shined your light as brightly as you could, I might notice it.  I may even be drawn to it.  I might be inspired and encouraged by it.  I may walk away from you with my light turned up a notch brighter just because I was uplifted by the way that you used your gifts and talents.  Then the same thing may happen to those who later meet me, drawn by my light.

All of the sudden our little corner of the world is radiating more light.  People are starting to wonder what is going on here.  They look for an explanation, but can not find one.  They ask us how could this be.  Our response, we do not really know how it all works, but it’s all because God made us this way.  People may even start saying, “Wow, this God of yours must be good.”  No, this God of ours is amazing!

In the end God gets the glory, rightly so.

Dear and Treasure Lord,

Thank You so much for being awesome and amazing.  Thank You for making us in Your imagine so that we, too, may be amazing.  Please help us in this day to come to You so that we may learn a bit more about what You designed us for.  Help us to be encouraged and shine brighter because of those around us living out the purpose You crafted them for. 

May we be bold and let our lights shine as brightly as we can, focusing on You and not others.  May we only try to be what You made us to be. 

In the glorious name of Jesus, amen.