Indications of a lack of self-acceptance

Inability to trust God

Self-consciousness

Inability to love others

Self-criticism

Wishful comparison with others

Name dropping

Neglect of appearance

Criticism of other people

Inability to give compliments

Need for constant approval

Exaggeration of achievements

The eight insights for acceptance of God's design are:

1. The balance of truth.

There are two ways to look at our physical being. In Isaiah 41:14 God calls man a "worm" or

literally, a maggot. On the other hand, in Job 10:8-9 Job reminds God that "Thine hands have

made me and fashioned me together round about;...Remember I beseech thee, that thou hast

made me as the clay;..." We are nothing of ourselves. We are valuable because God has placed

value on us.

Satan desires to get this truth out of balance. The new age religion and many of the

eastern religions say that we are all Gods, we are innately good. The result of this can be seen in

Romans 1:25-26a "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the

creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up

unto vile affections:" On the other hand, failing to understand that God has lovingly chosen

every detail of our being also leads to rejection of self and ultimately rejection of God.

2. God prescribed us before birth.

God chose every detail of our lives because He has a special plan for each one of us. Psalm

119:73a says, "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:" He knows what "defects" we need

to bring us to maturity. "But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter;

and we all are the work of thy hand." Is. 64:8 As our Potter He designed us and as our Father He

will use that design, if we will allow Him, to develop character in us and then will allow us to help

others who are struggling with His design.

3. God is not finished making us yet.

When God made us He had our finished character in mind. He knows how to get us to maturity

but sometimes we forget that He is still working on us. The "defects" that He puts in our lives

usually require time to mature us. I Peter 5:10 in the Amplified Bible says, "And after you have

suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called

you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you

ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you." Hebrews

13:20a-21 says, "Now the God of peace,...Make you perfect in every good work to do his will,

working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; ..."

4. The cause of inferiority is comparing unchangeable features.

We are not to focus on man's standards for beauty or intelligence because God created us just

the way He wants us, but rather on God's standards of character. Micah 6:8 says, "He hath

showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and

to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" In I Peter 3:3-4 God shows us what His

priorities are. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of

wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that

which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet, which is in the sight of God of

great price."

5. Outward beauty is not related to inward happiness.

One of Satan's lies is that beauty leads to wealth and admiration which brings happiness. In fact,

it is usually the opposite that is true. When someone achieves wealth and admiration it often

leaves them with a restless emptiness instead of happiness. Princes Diana was a good example

of this emptiness. She had what most little girls dream of, being a princess, but it left her empty.

Proverbs 31:30 says, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised."

6. God's universal inward ideal: the character of Jesus Christ.

God knows that our true fulfillment is in becoming like Christ. Our peace comes only when we

are moving in that direction. In Philippians 2:5 it says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in

Christ Jesus:" He wants us to focus on obedience to Him and development of character--on the

things that will last.

7. If necessary God sacrifices outward beauty to develop inward character.

Our inward character is far more important to God than our outward beauty. Because He loves

us, if He sees that marring our outside will make us more useable, He will do that. Often when He takes away from our physical beauty it is because there is an area of pride He wants to correct. He wants us to understand that "...we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." II Corinthians 4:7.

8. Differences in our features highlight and frame God's unique message through us.

God designed the trials in our lives perfectly, to prepare us to do the job He has for us. Each

unchangeable He has given us will help us in our ministry if we will allow it. I Cor. 12:18 says,

"But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him."

Design Testamony

The principle of design has applied to my life in two major areas. The first is in God's

choice of my parents. I was very young when my father left my home. By the time I was about

seven or eight I began to notice my friends with their fathers. God began to put a deep desire in

my heart for a father. I was the only one in my Christian school that came from a broken home.

Some of the other children even rubbed it in a little. About that time my mother remarried. I was

very excited about getting a dad but the man she married was not very nice to me. That made it

all the harder to watch the other children with their fathers.

When I was thirteen the Lord began to draw me to Himself. The thing He kept

emphasizing to me was that He wanted to take care of me. It was not until I was fifteen that I

first started to understand that I could take Him literally when He said He is, "A father of the

fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation." Psalm 68:5. God literally

wanted to be my father. It was because I had such a strong desire to have a father to love and

protect me that I responded to the Lord.

Sense then, the way I most often view God, is as my Heavenly Father. Our relationship

has continued to grow as I have been learning to take my fears, frustrations, cares, and worries

to Him, just as I would have liked to take them to my earthly father. Now that hole from not

having a father is filled. I think it is a privilege to be directly under God's protection and care.

The second area that design has applied to my life is physical features. When I was

thirteen I got very sick and almost died. Actually my sickness started out as a sickness unto

chastisement. I was very far away from the Lord in my heart. My secret actions kept getting

worse and worse. God used my sickness, diabetes, to bring me back to Himself.

While I was in intensive care I began to think about what would happen if I were to die. I

knew that I would go to heaven, but I also knew that I had been living my life for myself. I asked

God to give me another chance and told Him that I would live the rest of my life for Him. After

that, I started to get better. God used the first nurse I had after I got out of intensive care to put

things in perspective for me. She was a Christian and she saw the Bible on my bedstand. She

asked me if I was a Christian. When I said yes, she sat down next to me on my bed and told me

that I had two choices. Either I could get bitter or I could allow the Lord to use my diabetes to

make me better.

Now I see my diabetes as a mark of ownership. God has asked special things of me. I

can't eat whatever I want whenever I want, I have to limit myself physically, and I am often sick.

He has used it to refocus me when I am sick so that I spend more time with Him. He has used it

to give me opportunities to tell others about Jesus, especially in hospitals. Most importantly

though, it is a constant reminder to me of His love for me. He did not allow me to continue in the

direction I was headed but instead He used my diabetes to draw me to Himself. Both the

absence of a father and my diabetes have been tools the Lord has used to develop my love for

Him.

Father's Love Letter

70% of Christian teens hear voices that attack their identity

Saint

holy one

I was given this identity. I do not have to earn it or be worthy of it.