more to being special

we all struggle at some point with the idea of being special. we all desire to feel that we are special in a way that makes us better in others' eyes. yet there are also those who are labeled special in a way that makes them feel less in others' eyes. people come in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of different abilities and disabilities--some are slim, and some are more voluptuous; others are gorgeous, ugly, inferior, strong, weak, ditsy, or nerdy. some of us have experienced rape, disease, abuse, betrayal, heartbreak and loss, poverty, tragedies of all kinds--but these things are not what make us special.

the way we look and the things that have happened to us do not define us. God made us all and this simple fact makes every one of us special. our lack of something or our possession of something is irrelevant to who we are in Christ. we tend to view ourselves through others' eyes and question if there is something wrong with ourselves. tragically, we can go through our lives believing lies and that we are simply the girl that has been raped, the guy that gets beat by his dad, or the person with the deformity or disease, that these traumas are what make us special. we become hard, avoiding new relationships, afraid of taking risks or being wrong, getting hurt easily, kicking ourselves over every little mistake, because we've been conditioned to believe that we, of all people, do not have the right to be imperfect. we feel that we are looked down upon because of our imperfections, that they make us less than what God made us to be. but there is more to this.

we need to get to the place where we can stop hiding behind the facade of having it all together and enjoy being ourselves. we are children of God and nothing should make us feel or act less special than this. we are special because of the good He put in us, not the horrible things that have happened to us. we need to tell someone, forgive someone, do what we need to do to heal, soak up every lesson we can learn, and move on, allowing it to make us stronger, tougher, more able to help others and use the abilities God has given us. it is about being tough, not hard.

(inspired by The Wounded Spirit by Frank Peretti, check it out in my books)