Do you worry about what others think of you? How they see you?

If I’m honest, I do. I have always been a self-conscious person.

Through the years I’ve struggled with how I look, what I should wear, how I fit in in social settings—all those external things that make us “fit in”. I remember in college that a friend said I was too subjective, meaning I often read too much into my surroundings, worrying about how I was viewed.

While I still struggle with it some, for the most part I’ve learned that it is much more important to care what Jesus thinks of me rather than what people think.

Ephesians 2:10 says that “we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Psalm 139 says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made and that God’s works are wonderful. (vs 14) It goes on to say in verse 16, “…all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV)

Have you ever considered how God sees you? He formed each of us and planned out our days, creating us to do things in and through Jesus for his Kingdom.

We weren’t created just to exist for ourselves and our own plans, but it is so easy to get caught up in what we are doing or what is going on around us that we forget that we were made for so much more. There is so much value in understanding this.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us that we carry this precious message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. (4:7 MSG). The good works God created us to do are to show his power at work and to glorify him. They aren’t to bring glory to ourselves.

I have a few clay pots on my patio. They aren’t fancy and they are a little fragile. But they have a purpose. I think Paul was just reminding us not to think too highly of ourselves and put more emphasis God’s power in us.

I encourage you to read Romans 12 in the Message version of the Bible. It says, with God’s help, “take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life— and place it before God as an offering.” A more traditional version of the Bible would say, “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (NIV)

What it means is that because of God’s great mercy towards us through Jesus, our lives should be lived as an offering to him.

It goes on to say, “don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You will be changed from the inside out.” (Rom 12:2)

Sometimes in living our ordinary lives we can get caught up in comparing ourselves with others. This could be in a secular way as well as a spiritual way. I know sometimes I look at what others post on social media, and their lives look perfect. I know you know what I’m talking about. We only post the best pictures, the happiest moments, the good stuff. Most times we keep the not so perfect parts to ourselves.

We can do this in our spiritual life as well. If we are made new in Christ, we are given gifts from the Holy Spirit that are to be used to bring honor to God and work as functioning parts in his church. If you read the gifts listed in Romans 12, it relates them to how the human body works, reminding us that even small parts play an important role in total health. Therefore, we should look upon our own gift or gifts as tools that God has given us to carry out that work that he prepared for us to do.

Recently I was cleaning out a box of old papers, cards, pictures—all sorts of memories. I’m a sentimental person and keep a lot of stuff. Reading through the cards and letters in that box brought back a lot of memories, some of which I had forgotten. Some messages were humorous. In one card, my oldest sister wrote, “you are my favorite” (that was before she had kids). I also found a letter where I didn’t recognize the handwriting. My mom had been trying to learn how to write with her left hand and sent it to me while I was in college. Letters are something that can bring encouragement to us, as we can hold onto them and re-read over and over.

I think letter writing is a lost art. We mostly communicate electronically now. It is just so easy to send a quick text or e-card to wish someone Happy Birthday. Or we can send a greeting via social media. Long gone are the days where most of us would actually take out pen and paper to send a handwritten letter.

Paul talks about letters in 2 Corinthians. He says that we are a letter written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God. Have you ever thought about that? (vs 3)

That same verse in the Message reads, “your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it—not with ink, but with God’s living Spirit, not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives—and we publish it.” (MSG)

This is a reference to a passage in the Old Testament. Under the Old Covenant, God inscribed his commandments onto tablets of stone and gave them to Moses for the people to follow. But in Ezekiel 36:26-27 the people of Israel were given a promise. God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”  

The fulfillment of this promise ultimately came through Jesus. He offered us a new Way through his death and resurrection.

God does not need our help to tell the Story. He offers us his mercy and grace thorough Jesus and that is enough. But he doesn’t stop there. He includes us in the story.

He created us for a purpose.

He equips us to carry out the things he planned long ago for us to do.

And that takes us back to that every-day, ordinary life that we have been given by God. How are we using it to bring honor to him and to lead others to find the hope we have in Christ? If we “post” or share only the best pictures of our lives, how will others even know that we need Jesus to help us though our days. How will they know we aren’t perfect but are simply the fragile clay pots that he lives in and works through.

I have one friend who received a year’s supply of scripture cards from a friend. Every day, she randomly selects one from her box, praying that God will bless her and others with its message. And then she takes a picture and posts it on her Facebook page. So simple, but so profound. Because Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God’s Word never returns void, and it always accomplishes his purposes. Her obedience to share his word is part of the letter she is writing every day and it encourages my soul.

One of my daughters will often take pictures of her morning devotion excerpts, write notes & highlight things that spoke to her and post them as part of her Instagram story that morning.

Sometimes our letters are read when we are helping others and showing kindnesses. Things done behind the scenes. Things most people may not notice.

Some of our letters are written with bold words and shared publicly from the pulpit or while teaching a class.

And the tenderest of letters are written to our children, whether they are our own or they are under our influence.

It doesn’t really matter what form your letter is written in. God has equipped you to share it. If you know Jesus, He is the author of your letter anyway. He holds the pen and it is a beautiful story. A story of grace and love that he wants you to share with the world.

Hebrews, chapter 12 tells us that he (Jesus) is the “author and perfecter of our faith.”

 To your family?

To yourself?

Are you allowing Jesus to write it how he sees fit or are you trying to take the pen from him and write your own story?

I pray this week, that I can remember that Jesus’ story is way better than mine and that I can trust what he has already written. I also pray that my letter will help someone else find hope and peace in him.

How about you?

Dear Jesus, thank you that you loved me so much that you have personally written my story. I pray I will be willing to walk in that story today and allow you to work in my everyday, ordinary life to bring honor to you. May my story reflect who you are to others. In your name, Amen.