I love you...

Isaiah 43

In a world full of self-help remedies revolving around loving yourself, it's pretty easy to miss one vital truth: GOD LOVES YOU.

This can get over-looked by many people, as it sounds so cliche, even childish. (This isn't helped by the old VeggieTales catch phrase "God made you special and he loves you very much".)

It isn't.

When I say that your God loves you, don't picture the stereotypical Jesus figure with a golden halo, holding a lamb in one arm, and a baby in the other. Picture this: the Creator and sustainer of the universe, the one who "breathes out the stars", who holds the oceans in the hollow of his hand. He is the God of eternity. He is the God of the old testament, the "Holy One of Israel", beyond our comprehension. And he is the one who says to you, "I love you".

Amazed yet? There's more.

When your heavenly Father says that he loves you, don't take those words lightly. They are not words that are casually thrown about, meant half-heartedly, and therefore meaningless. They say that your actions should speak louder than your words, and guess what? It's true in this case. God doesn't just say "I love you". He shows it in a display of affection that will never be rivaled or matched.

Romans 5:6-8

He sent his one and only Son to die in the place of the people that rebelled against him. He looked at us, running away from him, striving to live our lives for ourselves and our own created gods, and he loved us. He saw our sin and our guilt, as black as can be, and he gave us a way to become as white as snow. A way to remove our condemnation and sin as far as the east is from the west, so that we can come before him as sons and daughters.

Hang in there, it gets even better.

Not only did Jesus' death on the cross cleanse us of our sin and shame, but he sweetened the deal. See, the only reason that Jesus was able to take our place was that he lived a perfect life, the life that we could never live. He was faced with all the temptations that we are, "yet without sin". (Hebrews 4:15). And when Jesus hung on that cross, two thousand years ago, he took all of our sin, all of our condemnation, on himself and he gave us his righteousness. We are now clothed in the spotless white robes of our Saviour, and nothing that we do can ever change our standing before him! No number of bad days, sinful thoughts, selfish acts can separate us from His love.

This is our God.

Don't let it become familiar. It is the most incredible love story of all time, and you are at the heart of it.

shwmae world!

Hi

So I'm kind of new to this, see if you can tell.

I thought that I would write my first post to give you a little window into me. Feel free to peer in and let your breath fog up the glass. 

I am a teenager, living in a culture where we are tossed to and fro by the waves of society. And I am beginning my recovery from an eating disorder. 

Most people who know me are completely unaware of what goes on in the dark recesses of my mind, which is why this blog is under a pseudonym. I don't yet have the courage to fully draw back the curtains on the darkness that I can sometimes hide inside, and I think that's okay. 
But I'm taking what I think is a necessary step and beginning to post my thoughts and things that encourage me on the interweb, in the hopes that someday a kindred soul will find them. 

:: disclaimer ::

I am fluent in sarcasm and like to use big words because they make me seem far more intelligent than I actually am. 

I sincerely hope that someone is able to find some hope or comfort from the words that I find to comfort myself, and that would make this whole endeavor worthwhile.