You’re a Positive

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 5:8 (NLT)

I often times have an exercise I have people work through in a bible study or bible class. It shouldn’t be difficult, but it turns out to be. It’s actually quite simple. I have the attendees spend five minutes writing everything about themselves that they don’t like. Generally, they start writing immediately and come up with many examples of things they wish they didn’t have in their life. Sometimes it’s cosmetic stuff like their weight, height, eye color, hair color, jawline, big ears, or a hundred different body parts. The other items generally deal with their personality, and, sometimes, their addictions. The list can get pretty long. After the five minutes are up, I ask them to now spend the next five minutes writing about the things they like about themselves. This often causes people to stare at the wall, or their paper, for a good bit before they actually begin writing. The list develops at a much slower pace and, in the end, it is usually less than half the length of their list of things they don’t like about themselves.

Why is it that it is so much easier for us to spot the negative things about ourselves than the positive? Why do we generally see ourselves in a negative light? And, if we see ourselves that way, why doesn’t God?

You see, God knows our thoughts, He knows our negative concepts, He knows our sin. Yet, He doesn’t dwell on those things. In fact, He looks past those things and sees the person behind it all. And, when He focuses in on you and me, He only sees somebody He truly loves. In fact, it was that love that carried Him to the cross and through the grave. As the apostle Paul stated, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” In other words, Jesus didn’t say to Himself, “Well, maybe they’ll stop sinning someday and I’ll die hoping that’s true.” Instead, He knows the pain in our life, the sin, yet can’t stop Himself from loving each one of us so much that He chose to lay down His life in our place.

God sees you as a positive, not a negative. He sees you as His amazing creation. His list of positives regarding you would be so long it would wrap around the universe. Never doubt the love that He has for you. Never doubt that His sacrifice was for you. Never doubt that God actually likes you. And, never doubt that God will save you when you accept His sacrifice.

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