Thursday, March 18 - Our Worth in Christ

So, I had offered to have this Thursday meeting at my house to give Alice a break!  I was pretty excited, but nervous, because it had been a long time since I gave any kind of "lesson" to others.  Since I feel pretty childlike in the knowledge of the Bible outside of Mormonism, I was worried that I might get it wrong.

I had been struggling with issues of self worth.  I am not happy with my current weight, my hair is thinning out to the point of looking bald to me, and I'm so tired most of the time that my motivation is nil. I had also heard a lot of people close to me be very hard on themselves about their image or their abilities.  So, I knew exactly what I had to do for our study.

Alice, Shelley, and her daughter, Kati, were in attendance. I started out the lesson with a song that I had written when I was 15 called "I Am Who I Am".  It talks about not fitting in with what the "world" sees as beautiful, but trying to be ok with who I am anyway.  I explained to them that I had started going to youth dances and was incredibly discouraged because I never got asked to dance.  I did not fit the mold of what was acceptable, even at a church function.  After singing the song, I had everyone write down everything that bothers them about themselves, including both outward and inward characteristics.

While they were doing that, I showed them a clip about the transformation of a regular looking person who was prepped for a commercial billboard, and when all was said and done, with make-up, lighting, computer generated changes, that person was completely different looking.  The world's view of what is beautiful is often based on what is not even real!

I gave everyone a Styrofoam cup that had their name on it.  I also gave them a sharp pointed stick.  I told them that for everything they had written down on their paper, they were to pierce the cup.  They even said out loud some of the things they had written down while they were piercing the cup.  I asked them what would happen if you tried to fill the cup with liquid and they all knew that now that there were holes in the cup, it could not hold anything.  I then passed out another cup, which I had colored yellow on the outside, and on the inside was a picture of Jesus.  I told them that Jesus asked to have the "cup" of wrath, suffering and death removed from him, but submitted to the will of the Father on our behalf for our benefit.  When we chose to believe that Jesus saved us from everything that brings us down, we took His name upon us.  I had them put that cup inside of the one they had just punctured.  I then shared with them that John 4:14 says that whoever drinks of the water Jesus offers, they will never be thirsty again, and Jesus will be a fountain of water eternally.  With Him, our cup can hold water.  With Him, all of those puncture wounds go away.  In Him, we are beautiful.

1 Peter 3:3- 4  Let your beauty not be external – the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes – but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty
of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.
Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
1 Samuel 16:7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

We don't have to worry about the "world's" standard of beauty - we are beautiful in Christ.

I shared that when I was around 10 or 11, I had been taught in swimming lessons that when you go out swimming in nature's waters, you should have a buddy and a buddy stick.  Should you get into a risky situation with the water, your buddy should use the stick to pull you back out and into safety.  My friend and I were swimming in a creek and I fell into swift waters.  She pulled me back out and into safety because we had a buddy stick.  I was so relieved and glad to have made it through what was a very scary situation!

Christ offers us a buddy stick when we are in turbulent waters that threaten to drown us.  However, something I recently learned, is that WE have to grab the stick - we have to make the choice to be rescued by Him.

When we do make that choice, we can realize more clearly God's love for us. I recited John 3:16 with my name inserted in it: God so loved Ari-Amber that He gave His only begotten Son that if I believe in Him, I will not perish, but have everlasting life!  Ephesians 2: 8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.  A gift! What an awesome gift!

I told the story found in Luke 15 about the prodigal son.  I reminded these beautiful ladies that there is NOTHING that we can do that will stop God from loving us and opening His arms to us ALWAYS.  The gift did not stipulate anything other than faith - it didn't say we had to not sin - good thing, cuz we all do!

I played them a song I had found called "If You Could See What I See" sung by Maribeth Johnson.  The lyrics are as follows:

If I could see what You see
When You look at me
I would begin to understand
Who I really am
I would know how deep
Your love is for me
If I could see what You see
If I could see what You see
When You look at me
I would begin to realize
Why You had to die
I would know what You gave
To take my sins away
If I could see what You see
I would see a wonderful
And beautiful creation
In Your eyes I’m nothing less
Than an image of You
If I could see what You see
When You look at me
I would begin to know Your heart
And who You really are
I would fall to my knees
And thank You endlessly
If I could see what You see
If I could see what You see

This song can also be heard here: If You Could See What I See

I then explained to them that we needed to replace the negative things that we think or say to ourselves with positive.  I gave them note cards and a note holder and asked them to make positive affirmations out of the things they had previously written down as negative.

We then had yummy chicken tostadas and Spanish rice! Yum!

I love Thursdays!