It’s Christmas time again and one of my favorite things to do is to gift homemade cookies to our friends’ and neighbors. The problem is, I don’t like to bake! My brother Richard was born with the cooking/baking genes. Me? I can fix a water leak, change the oil in your car, and fix your computer. On the upside, God did bless me with a husband who is willing to eat most things I make.
So why do I do this to myself every year? I believe it started with an attempt to prove myself to myself. Nothing feels better than to give someone something homemade and hear their oohs and aahs and thanks yous even if they never take a bite in front of you! (Disclaimer – my friends do claim to like them!)
I never felt good enough going growing up. My mother disliked how talkative and open I am with other people. To my father, nothing less than an A+ was good enough when it came to grades. And in the neighborhood, I was the kid they let walk into a concrete post playing blind man’s bluff while they watched and laughed.
Mind you, I am not complaining. I would not be the person I am today without those experiences. However, I struggled with the voices in my head for years telling me I am not good enough, smart enough, talented enough. When I would bake, I would compare my results with those of my brother. (Did I mention he graduated from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, NY and was an executive chef for many years?) Needless to say, my cookies did not look or taste at all like his treats!
Here is what I’ve finally learned. I am just like my cookie. I am not the prettiest, or the tastiest cookie in the jar. But guess what? God loves me just the way he made me! I can choose to compare myself to others and fall as I only pit myself against those I perceive to be prettier, smarter, happier, wealthier, or more accomplished than me. This means I will never come out the winner. The alternative is that I can choose to overwrite the voices in my head with the voice of God. I can focus instead on who he tells me I am.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God… John 1:12
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made… Psalm 139:14
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works… Eph 2:10
I have called you by name, you are mine. Isa 43:1
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Cor 3:16
Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…Eph 1:4
So this week, while I bake and decorate my cookies, I will look at the uniqueness of each one and instead of seeing myself as the world seems me, I will be reminded to look at myself through God’s eyes and know I am loved even when I crumble.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Gen 1:27
Just for today, remember you are a child of God and not of this world!
May your Christmas be blessed!
– PSG –
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