Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation!
(Psalm 139:13-14 MSG)
I know someone whose goal in life right now is to have a celeb-inspired body. “You do realize that they have a personal trainer and need to maintain that kind of body image for the public eye, right?” I asked. They nodded, but then wondered if I wanted to look like a certain celebrity. I find it interesting that people still aspire to look like one, even though it’s very unrealistic to me. “No,” I assured them, “because many of them have gone under the knife and I’m not going to do that.” They finally agreed and said that they wouldn’t do it either.
I’m reminded of a children song that I used to sing with the kids in Sunday school. The words of the song express exactly how David felt in today’s psalm:
God made me who I’m meant to be
He loves me just the way I am
God made me who I’m meant to be
His dream for me is so amazing
And for this simple reason I am happy to be me.
(Hillsong Kids, “Royalty”)
It takes time for some people to reach that point in their lives where they’re truly happy to be themselves, especially if they’ve never liked themselves to begin with. There’s definitely nothing wrong with taking care of ourselves and looking our best, but we need to remember that we’ll never look like someone else because each of us is remarkably and wonderfully made by God Himself. There will never be another me or you, so let’s follow David’s example and praise God for the way that we’ve been made and not try to be someone else. We’re God’s masterpiece!
Rising with the Son 