What does God see in me?

Last month a bunch of us made 5 resolutions. If you weren't with us feel free to jump in now.  You can review them here.  This week I am blogging on Resolution #1 which is:  

I resolve to see myself as God sees me. 

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in order to keep this resolution is the temptation to compare ourselves to other people.  This temptation exists for men and women alike, however, in the realm of comparing physical appearance and measuring beauty I don't think anyone could argue the fact that women have it way worse. We are bombarded with an endless stream of images and messages luring us to measure our worth by what we look like.  So let's all feel sorry for ourselves for a second.

Ok that's it...now let's get over it and fight to keep ourselves from falling prey to it.
The onslaught is not going to end anytime soon so...

Let's stop buying into it.  (we could make that Resolution #1a !)

 "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”   1 Samuel 16:7

In context, God was correcting Samuel's thinking.  I need that sometimes ~ a little readjustment of my thinking. Samuel was trying to figure out who God's anointed one was based on looks and physical ability alone.  But God had chosen David because of his heart. He was described as a brave man, a warrior who chose his words well.  A man after God's heart.  He also happened to be handsome but it's interesting that God went out of his way to point out that it did not factor into His decision to choose him as His anointed one.

I love that David was chosen for his heart and yet this same man wrote the Psalm that cried out,

"Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me" Psalm 51:10

That Psalm was written out of David's brokenness from making a mess of things and succumbing to temptation.  But the good news that everyone needs to hear is in Psalm 51:17.  The word tells us that God will not despise a broken and contrite heart.

God sees straight through to your heart and no matter what condition it is in, if your desire is for it to be clean, He will wash it white as snow.  Now that is beautiful.