You're Awesome

    Okay story time because you know I love stories. Once there was a soccer player named Maria. She was a very passionate player and worked hard on the field. One time she went in to slide tackle someone and got injured. After that she showed up to practice even though she could not do any running because of her injury. Instead of just sitting on the sideline she did core and pushups while her teammates were working on the field. She continued to try to get better in the only way that she could at that point.

   A few weeks passed and I could tell she was starting to get discouraged. So, one day I looked at her and I said, "Maria, you're awesome." She gave me a nervous smile, laughed, and said "why?" I said, "just because you are." I could tell she didn't believe me which I found interesting. Then, each day I saw her I continued to remind her that she was awesome. This girl exuded confidence. However, it seemed like she had lost that confidence because her identity, in soccer, was taken away. Allow me to explain a bit more.

   Awe means "a feeling of amazement." Thus, awesome means "in awe and then some." Maria is awesome because of what she continued to do for her team even though she couldn't be on the field playing the game she loved. She is also awesome because of who she is in God. What do I mean by that? 

   1 Peter 2:9 says: "However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Is God awesome? I assume you said yes. He is our father. You belong to God. He chose you. He loves you. He is amazed by every little detail about you. He made you unique. He created you to be awesome and show his awesome light to others. If God loves us and thinks we are awesome then why don't we believe it? 

   Here's the problem with us not believing that we are awesome. If we doubt ourselves, then we are doubting God and his love for us. That's not to say we should walk around cocky and prideful. It does mean that we should have confidence in the Lord and who he made us to be. We are awesome because an awesome God made us unique. Do you believe that?

Image from here.