You Are a Masterpiece!  Are you insulting your creator?

When we think of some of the most valuable items in the world today, priceless art often comes to mind.  I’m always amazed at what people are willing to pay for masterpieces sold via Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and private sales.  I was reading an article that the Huffington Post did in December of this past year about the most expensive art of 2013 (“18 Unbelievably Expensive Artworks That Sold For Millions This Year”), and I learned that over $1 BILLION was dropped on just 18 works of art!  It’s unsettling what some are willing to fork out for what they deem a “masterpiece”.

Well, you already know you are valuable because last week we talked about realizing your value and your worth, but did you know YOU are a masterpiece?  You are the handiwork of God. 

You are His masterpiece.  I think of God as the artist of all artists. 🙂 I mean really, any other artist is just creating art of God’s art. 

• A painting of a landscape?  God made the landscape.
• A sculpture of David?  God formed David.
• A photograph of a skyline?  OK…so God didn’t construct the buildings Himself, per se, BUT He did produce the raw materials, created the builders and generated their visions and designs.

God even gifted each artist with their gift to craft masterpieces.  Everything starts and originates with God, including us.  Ephesians 2:10 tells us, plain and simple, that we are God’s masterpiece and that He has a plan for us.

I have a question for you…

Would you ever walk into an art exhibit and verbally bash a piece of art with the artist standing right there next to you?  Probably not (unless you have absolutely no tact or social skills and we’ll talk more about that in later posts!).  What does your “self-talk” sound like?  Have you ever insulted yourself or mentioned something you don’t like about yourself?  Just like it would be rude and disrespectful to insult a painting to the artist who painted it, insulting yourself means that you are insulting your creator–God.

Insulting yourself would be telling God that He made a mistake.  Insulting yourself is essentially making yourself “God” because you are saying you could have done a better job or that you know better.

Check out these verses:

“But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8 

 “Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Does the pot complain that its maker has no skill?” Isaiah 45:9 

“No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” Romans 9:20

We speak to ourselves everyday (sometimes audibly and sometimes inaudibly).  We need to make sure that the things we are saying to ourselves are agreeing with God’s word and what He says about us.  So, we need to watch our self-talk.  We need to ensure that our self-talk is positive and not negative.  We need to stop insulting God and hurting Him in the process.

Take Some Practical Steps: 

• First, start taking inventory of how you think about and talk to yourself.  If you have a lot of negative self-talk, start trying to reduce it a little at a time. 

• Secondly, pray and ask God to help you catch yourself when you do it. 

• Then, when you catch yourself thinking or saying something negative about yourself, stop yourself and say, “No, that’s not true; that’s an insult to God.  God made me to be…” and insert one of the phrases we mentioned last week or from your Personalized Identity in Christ printout (I hope you took the time to go take advantage of that free resource—by the way, I am not compensated in any way for this referral; it’s just a whole-hearted, personal recommendation). 

• Next, learn more about what God says about you.  Start listening to some faith-building CD’s or podcasts and/or reading some good books that build you up.  Another helpful tip I like is to read through the book of Ephesians (only 6 chapters), but read it from a personal perspective.  I recommend that you read it as though Paul has written it directly to you.

• Finally, start seeing your negative self-talk for what it is: a hurtful thing to say to a dear friend. 

Lastly remember this, if you say something enough you will start to believe it.  Did you know your faith or your belief come from what you hear over and over?  Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  When you hear yourself speaking the negative over and over, that’s what you will start to believe.  However, the same is true in reverse.  You may not believe right now that you are the things God says about you, but if you keep speaking those things over yourself you WILL, little by little, start to believe them.  You will start to have faith in what you are saying and in what God says about you.

Have you ever considered your negative self-talk as an insult to God?  Leave a comment below.

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If you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward!  Share this post via the sharing links below.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)