Are you wrong?

"I praise You, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." -Psalm 139: 14 

Man, I'm not surprised!
As far as we can tell, a man penned the above verse. Are you surprised? I'm not. I would actually be shocked if a woman wrote it. Before you get offended and write me an incredibly nasty comment below this post, let me be clearer than most of the handprint smudged, hairspray spritzed, dust sprinkled mirrors I look at in my house: I am completely aware that there are numerous men who have caught the self-criticism virus that many of us ladies seemingly picked up somewhere between the delivery room when we were born and the kindergarten classroom when we start school. I am also (admittedly) jealously conscious of the fact that there are women completely secure in their God-given identity. For that I say "Praise God!", but sadly there are far too many women, who, like me, are far too tough on themselves to talk to God about how grateful they are for how awesome He made them. 

Being wrong isn't always a bad thing
I've known for quite a while now that I am by far my worst critic, which considering the bone-breaking (yes, it's not just caused by sticks and stones) comments people have made both to and about me before is really saying something some days. Sunday night, however, I was caught completely off-guard in the realization that I (and those other bone-breakers) might not be one hundred percent correct in those criticisms. After posting a Facebook status about how I am just not one of those people who know just the right thing to say at just the right moment, a self-assessment that I have lamented and prayed over for years, comments starting popping up below it from my friends. They said many different things, but the gist of it was, "You're wrong. You are an encouragement to many. Your words have had a positive impact on my life." What?!?! Me?!?! Are you ladies sure you didn't mean to post those words about someone else? Shockingly, truly shockingly, they didn't, which led me to comment honestly: "Well, I can't say I've ever enjoyed being told I'm wrong this much. Thank you for your kind words!" and another time: "Thanks for the sweet 'disagreements'! Maybe God has been answering my prayers more than I know!" 

Tooting God's horn, not mine
Again, allow me to add a clarifier. That status was not posted as a "I'm going to say something bad about myself so others will tell me how wrong and awesome, fabulous, super, spectacular, amazing, etc., etc. that I am" and this blog post has no aim like that whatsoever as well. It is to say that when we trash ourselves, whether in good-natured humor or full-on attack, we belittle God's creation, God's precious, beloved child, and God's hand at work in that child. This will hit home with my fellow-mama readers: there is not much that makes my blood boil, eyes light up with the fire of anger, and teeth clench more that when someone says anything remotely disparaging about my child or her development. Jesus is the only one who can hold my tongue at those times, and, even then, embarrassingly, sometimes I jerk it away from Him in the moment. And one of these days when inevitably I hear my sweet, beautiful girl utter something hurtful about herself, it will pierce my heart. Someone speaking badly of my daughter angers and hurts me so deeply, because I know her like no one else does. She grew inside my body for nine months. I have been with her every day at some point for two years and almost five months now. I witness her beauty, her victories, her setbacks, her pains, her joys, her fears, everything. Even though not everything she does is good, I have no doubt that she is fearfully and wonderfully made and a blessing to me unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life. How much more must our Heavenly Father despise it when any of His children think or say hateful words about themselves? He created us! He "knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). He knows we're not perfect, nor does He expect us to be. He is "El Roi", the God who sees me. He sees our flaws, our strengths, our sin, our desire to do better, our doubt, our faith, but he sees it all under the heading of "fearfully and wonderfully made". He sees it under the blood of the Lamb, which cleanses, redeems, and transforms. Why can't we do the same? 

What are you wrong about? 
I've attempted whole-heartedly to explain to many a friend that she views her own image in a distorted mirror. She sees the sink full of dishes at the end of a long day and labels herself a failure as a wife and mother. The child who prays heartfelt prayers every night because of her example of faith says she's wrong. She sees the lack of formal training in her area of service and labels herself unqualified. The list of people she has enormously blessed through being obedient to God's call says she's wrong. She sees the few people who refuse to like her for whatever reason and labels herself unlikable. The hundreds of acquaintances and friends who rejoice in seeing her so they can soak up the light of the Lord that radiates from her say she's wrong. She's wrong. I'm wrong. And if you are unrelentingly critical of yourself, I can promise that you are wrong, too. Not about everything. We know a lot about our various professions, what kind of cereal our kids love, our husband's pet peeves (surely none of them relate to us ;)), what brand of makeup we prefer, the quickest way to heal a boo-boo or broken heart (depending on the patient), I could go on and on. We are right about so many things, but when it comes to our assessment of ourselves, many times, sisters, we are very wrong. Let's pray and ask God to show us what we're wrong about and how we can get in line with how He sees us...fearfully and wonderfully made. Let's not let the men be the only ones praising God for how awesome they are ;) 

Prayer
Our Heavenly Father, thank you that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Me! Not just my friends, my child, my husband, but me, too. Please help me to never forget that. I ask you to show me every area in my life that I have allowed the devil, the world, and my own mistaken thinking to lead me to wrong beliefs about. Help me to seek You, Your Word, and Your truth to correct these harmful lies. Even in areas where I struggle, enable me to see Your work in me and know that even though I haven't "arrived" yet, there is progress being made. I pray that I would always rejoice over Your creation and Your hand at work in it, even...maybe especially...when that creation is me and it's my hand that's in Yours. I love you and praise You for who You are. In Jesus's name, Amen.