Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. -Luke 12:7 (NIV)
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. -Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
As the parent of a young child, I’m really enjoying watching (and re-watching) reruns of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, thanks to the magic of streaming Internet video. And any time you watch Mister Rogers, he makes sure you know that you are unique and special. (Did you know he was an ordained minister?)
God not only made you like no one else who ever has, does, or will live on this earth, but He also makes you even better than you were last week, last year, and definitely before you accepted Him in your heart. He continuously improves you through the renewal of your mind and by honoring Him through handling your circumstances.
What’s interesting is how you can forget those things as you pass through the harrowing adolescent years, early adulthood, and the decades to follow…especially if Christ is not at the center of your life. You get pulled more and more into the world. You believe that you make and earn your worth, and the sad lie that you work hard, play hard, and die. That’s it. Pretty depressing.
That same worldview works into your relationships, too, and wreaks havoc there as well. But I can testify to an unfolding miracle God is working in my life, in a return to the more pure, simpler days of childhood: how to have healthy interpersonal reactions with others.
Though it sounds brain-dead simple, if you step back and catalog the ways you might better treat others or react to others, you might be surprised. For me, God showed me that how I lived and acted for 40 years was, in many ways, not Christlike. The passive aggressiveness. The harbored resentment. The unhealthy expression of stress and other pent up emotions. His Word instead models how to act to His glory.
Today, I continue to marvel at the daily revelations He gives me about how I should treat others, and how to act regardless of how I may be treated, in honor and obedience to Him first. And it’s a wonderful journey of healing and growth, breaking old, unhealthy cycles and patterns.
So that brings me back to Mister Rogers. God was working through Mister Rogers to affirm that God made us unique, and that we were indeed made special by Him. And after decades of losing sight of that, I thank the Lord for bringing me back to basics, and I pray He will do the same for you.
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