Every person is made and loved by God to be unique and precious in his sight.
There are so many implications for how we live that stem from this biblical truth. We live in a world of standardization that tries to tell us we should all be able to fit into one sort of assembly line when we have each been made differently. You see how people struggle under this incompatibility at all ages and stages. Our children grow and are formed primarily in rigid, one-track institutions. For many, we see tension between what is expected of them and what they were created to be good at. Too many of our kids internalize the message that they are wrong somehow, but the reality is that they need a different setting for them to be able to thrive.
As we age into adulthood, most of us feel immense pressure to send our kids off the overpriced schools that often underdeliver on what they are promising us. We are told every person should have a Bachelor of Arts, even though many of us find this journey stifling. Some of us were made to weld, paint, nurture in a home, build, drive, etc., but we are afraid to take a chance.
Then adulthood comes, and we are expected to produce, grow families, provide, and do so much more in jobs that require us more than we really have time to give them. So many of us lack drive, purpose, and vision because our debts keep us tethered to jobs that don't see us as the creative gifts we were made to be to our communities. In reality many of us were never made for a 9-5 and are called to invent, create, start new things, or to feel fully alive.
As we grow families, our culture tells us that we need neurotypical kids in order for us to gain maximum enjoyment and success as parents. Babies with disabilities that come at the wrong time or may come from seemingly "wrong parents" are discarded because they don't match with this one-size-fits-all view of what makes a life well lived. We can't fathom how children that come with complexities or through foster care and adoption can bring depth and beauty to our world because they are still made in the image of our God.
1. God's Love Brings Freedom
1. God's Love Brings Freedom
Knowing that your unique set of needs, passions, ideas, quirks, and skills are something to be celebrated not forced into fitting our culture's very one-size-fits-all ideas for a good life should bring us such freedom! As we are growing, there are so many of us who want only to be like those around us, but as Christ's followers, we are invited to take the path less traveled. It's an uncomfortable feeling at first but once we begin to taste God's goodness that abounds when we are obedient we see that there is such joy in taking this less traveled way that keeps us close to Him.
I remember the first time I began to feel God calling me out of the life I thought I should live. When I became a Mom my plan was to keep working and space my kids out accordingly so I could afford a job and a career. I never saw my future as a stay at home parent as a college educated woman. Then that first precious bundle came into my life, a clear image bearer, and I felt God asking me to trust him to make way for me to leave my full-time job in favor of taking on the hardest job ever, which was being a stay-at-home parent.
I had to trust him as I was breaking free from a mold that had been forced on me but not one that reflected the true desires of my heart. Over the next 12 years as a parent he has used this role to stretch me out of what I thought was reasonable towards something much less conventional and definitely less practical. That's my story of stepping out on the waters of faith, seeing that God has a just me story to tell. As we see God's calling, whatever it may be for us, as our primary objective, we find freedom from the world's conventions that only God's love can offer.
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2. God's Love Is Affirming
2. God's Love Is Affirming
God's truth is so much bigger than what our world is striving for. At the center of it, God's mission is for His created people to know His love so they can flourish. God's love is affirming because, with him, differences are not a mistake; they are an expression of his creativity.
Consider apples. There are multiple types of apples, some sour, others tangy, and some sweet. They are all apples but each a little different, offering something different to appreciate about how they taste and look. Just in the same way we are all human but we each come with a little different flare! God's plan is to show off his wonder through his amazingly unique spectrum of created people.
You don't have to change your brand of student, spouse, worker, creator, gender, or anything else that has been imprinted on your DNA to be worthy of love. You are just right, just as you were formed in the womb. God designed you on purpose, and we can celebrate the ways that your unique design makes this world a brighter place.
3. God's Love Says Each Life Matters
3. God's Love Says Each Life Matters
When we see that God's new creation has eternal implications we see that this life is no trivial matter. It's not just about YOLO-ing; we are actually called to store up treasure in Heaven that will last for eternity (Matthew 6:19-21)! As those who each have a role to play in making space for life to flourish as God intended, how we invest in those around us has eternal ramifications.
When we make choices about how to live and what issues we take a stand for, protecting life and pushing back against injustice should be a Christian priority. There are applications for this truth in almost every possible situation we find ourselves in.
As parents, this belief compels us to parent with biblically-based intentionality. At our work it moves us to be diligent, honest, kind, and thoughtful about how our actions impact our work community. As a church we serve others in love because we value the Saints we've been blessed to do life alongside. In civic life we vote, we pray, and we engage however we can to protect life. As a spouse, we honor one another because, at the end of the day, your significant other is a child of God first and foremost and is worthy of love and respect.
As you go forward, remember that God's love for us is the foundational truth of our faith. Don't lose sight of its meaning and applications. Remember he gave his life for us so we might live, and live with abundance. There are so many ways to get distracted from the basics of our faith. Come back to his love and be inspired anew in how to spread that love through your daily life.
Originally published February 03, 2025.
