Do You Know You Are God's Prized Possession?

Dear Friends,

Do you know that God considers you his prized possession?

Maybe you find that hard to believe. You may think that because of what you've done or what's been done to you that you are not special, that you are not worth much. You may have a negative self-image and you may compare yourself with others and believe they are so much better than you.

But the truth is that you are so much more than what you think you are. How do I know that? Because that's what the Bible tells me and if I want to know the truth about God and myself I go to the Bible. It's there I learn that being prized by God means that I am treasured, valued, cherished and much loved by him.

At the moment I'm reading the book of James, and rather than rush through it I'm taking my time so that I can really feed on it and digest it. It's taken me most of the week to read the first chapter, but it's been a good investment of my time. It's why today I'm writing about being God's prized possession. In James 1:18 it says "He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession." (NLT)

Why are you and I God's prized possession?
1. He lovingly created you and me. Who we are is no accident. God was deliberate about the way he made us, choosing our character, our nature, the skills and abilities we would have. No two of us are like, each one of us is unique, specifically created by God and for God.   

"¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it. ¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. ¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."  Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)  

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8:6 "But for us, There is one God, the Father, by whom all things were created, and for whom we live. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created, and through whom we live." (NLT)

2. Not only does God prize us, treasure us, consider us as special because he created us, he also showed how much he prizes us because he paid the highest price imaginable for you and for me. The cost was huge but God believed us worth the cost. What was the price he paid? He gave his son, Jesus, so that you and I could be his prized possession.  

Paul also wrote "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

God sees us just as we are. He sees the image we give to the world and he knows us from the inside. He knows our flaws, our weaknesses, our strengths and our potential. Knowing all these things, knowing us as we truly are, God still calls you and me his prized possession.

We are not to live as though we belong to any other person, whether they are a friend, parent or spouse. If we do we open ourselves up to being mistreated, misused and abused. We don't need to spend our life trying to win the approval or acceptance of others, trying to be who they want us to be. 

We do belong to God and as his prized possession we can trust him completely. He cares for us, protects us, watches over us and wants the best for us. He wants us to become the person he created us to be. He has our best interests at heart.

So, what is the outcome of knowing we are God's prized possession?  

First, I believe it gives us a right perspective of ourselves. We have no need to compare ourselves with others, to think less or more of ourselves than we should. Not only does it change the way we think about ourselves, it also changes the way we behave. We want to bring glory to God in the things we do, to choose to do those things which are honourable, good and right rather than mistreating our bodies or doing what displeases God. 

The Message paraphrase of Galatians 5:4-5 says this "Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life."

Secondly, when we believe that every single one of us is God's prized possession, it has an impact on how we interact with others. Rather than being judgmental, critical, showing favouritism, belittling others, we will see them as God sees them. We will recognise their worth and value, we will believe in their significance, we will accept them as they are. We will love and esteem them as God does.

To Think About:
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you believe you are God's prized possession. Today rest in that incredible truth.

What difference does it make to the things you say, the way you think and your behaviour when you know that you are God's prized possession?

What difference does it make to your interactions with others when you know that they too are God's prized possession?

Vicki

If  what you read was of interest to you, then you may like to know that my book "Dear Friend...52 Weekly Devotions to Encourage, Challenge and Inspire" is available to buy from Amazon. (It's content is material adapted from previous blog posts.) To learn more, click on the link below:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1517787955/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487243591&sr=1-1&keywords=Vicki+Cottingham