Finding Hope in Our Trials

Sometimes I hate myself. I look at the people around me and wonder how they look so put together, so beautiful, so confident. “My jeans don’t fit right, and my jacket is warm instead of adorable. I feel unremarkable and worthless. I want to disappear into the wall.”

But sometimes I love myself. “My hair looks great today, and that shirt I found at the thrift shop works perfectly with the skirt Madi gave me at church. I even made a grumpy person smile. I feel awesome.”

Sometimes I hate myself. “Once again, I sinned in the same way that always comes back to tempt me. I should be able to resist it by now, and yet, when the temptation came knocking in the same sweet way I know so well, I gave in. I feel like a total failure.”

But sometimes I love myself. My friend says, “You are so good at using your spiritual gifts! We love your ministry at church.†Pride fills me up like a tall glass of lemonade, and pride is what splashes out when I move. I feel fantastic.

Then I stop. Is it true that I am a wonderful child of God in Christ, created in His image? Yes. Is it also true that I am full of sin and failure? Yes! I puzzle for a while: How am I supposed to think of myself? Am I good or bad? Wonderful or disgusting?

I remember. There is Someone far more beautiful, completely without sin, who loves me more than words can say. He is eternal, omnipotent, infinitely creative, and never gives up. In His love for me, He died on the cross for my sins, and He is making me like Him—free from sin. No matter what I do or how I feel, my identity and worth are found in Jesus. • Amy Glendinning

• How do you tend to think about yourself? Are these thoughts true or helpful?

• Check out Psalm 103:12, John 1:12, and 3:16, Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:9, and Jude 24-25. Who are you in Christ?

• On days when you feel worthless, who is a trusted person—such as a teacher, pastor, parent, counselor, or friend—you can talk with to replace those lies with truth?

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 1 John 3:2 (NLT)

Read Verses:

Romans 8:28; 1 Peter 1:3-7