69. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND INCREDIBLY VALUABLE

As Christians, sometimes no matter how hard we try, people just don’t like us, don’t see anything good or beautiful in us and consider us to be of no worth or value. They have no need for us and regard and treat us accordingly.

We therefore walk around feeling rejected in different spheres, for some, at home or at the workplace or among other Church goers or by people in general and sadly, for some, all of the above apply.

It is hard to pick our heads up out of the dust, when people think of us as a nuisance wherever we go, no matter what we do or how well-intentioned we may be and as if there is no need for us here on earth because we are worthless. Some tell us, even as an extended family member shockingly told me some years ago, at about twenty-one years of age, “There is only so much the world can take of you, you know!” I never understood the statement. It was so sudden and in my mind, uncalled for. It stung and even today, I sometimes think back on what she had said. I had simply insisted on paying a taxi driver that had been transporting us from one point to another, where I had given him the wrong sum accidentally. He shrugged it off and said it was okay but I felt bad for the guy, knowing how hard it is to make a living. I therefore found the extra sum and paid him. This act evoked the insult from the extended family member and hurt me to the core. It made me question myself, my worth and if I had any purpose to serve on this earth. I felt so bad and questioned what was wrong with me, to have provoked such a response.

Often times, we are tempted to wallow in feelings of rejection and worthlessness, confused and cast down as to why nobody sees any beauty in us, why they misunderstand us and our motives and why so many dismiss us daily, as write-offs and outcasts.

Yet, if we are Christians, we ought to consider our Lord Jesus Christ and what he went through while on earth, as he experienced something similar, though far worse. Although he was perfect, holy and lived a life completely free from sin, people generally did not see anything in him that they wanted, desired or felt was valuable. He had the greatest riches to offer, that of eternal life by faith in Him, yet people despised him and considered him to be a pest, that they would much rather get rid of.

Isaiah 53:3 prophesies of what his eventual experience when he came to earth. It states:

• “…he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

Despite how lowly people thought of him though and how much they disregarded him as useless and of no significance, their behaviour and their opinions did absolutely nothing to change who Jesus was and did not in anyway detract from his awesome value. He was the Son of God, God the Son, Creator of the whole world and in his hands, lay the power to forgive sins, to heal, to cleanse, to save and to deliver.

People not seeing this about him was not an indictment on his worth. It was a testament of their blindness and their folly.

When going through life therefore, don’t pay too much mind if the people around you think nothing of you and if they treat you with scant courtesy and scorn. People did it to Jesus when he was on earth and he got through it, focused on doing those things which pleased his Father and fulfilling the purpose for which he came.

No matter what people think of you, if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, God has kept you here on earth because he has purpose for you. This should be all that matters. It may be hard but block out the opinions of man, how badly they treat you and set your eyes on the Lord. Focus on what He would have you do and aim always to please him. People may have rendered you irrelevant yes and see no reason for you to remain on earth but God hasn’t and He has the very last say.

How people think of you, does not change the fact that you are precious to the Lord and a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9 states:

• “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

The enemy used people to try to downplay Jesus’ value, even mockingly referring to him as the King of the Jews when he was being crucified and the enemy still uses people today. He uses them to treat you so badly, to ignore you and to behave as if you are a worthless dog, in the hope that it will make you forget who you are in Jesus Christ and derail you from purpose, in your feelings of worthlessness and hurt.

Stay focused! Remind yourself of the verses in the Bible that speak to your value in Jesus Christ and use it as one of your weapons, when the enemy sends people to try to attack your sense of worth.

Riled up by him, they treat you the very opposite of your true value and worth. You will be amazed, even as I have been, if you ever have the opportunity to replay footage of yourself. just being yourself, where someone may unsuspectingly have taped you, of how beautiful you are! I remember looking at one such snippet of myself and was genuinely shocked. I was almost like, “Who is that? She is beautiful!” This was not just in reference to the physical features. There was an inner beauty that radiated in the person shown and I realized that I had been lied to and for many years, by many people in life. I had been made to feel ugly but the person aired in the footage was beautiful, graceful, elegant and radiant! There was clearly a disparity between what I saw and how I regularly felt, my having been affected by people’s poor treatment and disregard of me.

Since then, I have viewed other snippets and can honestly say that each time, I am amazed! The inner beauty that I see, which bursts forth, just in me being myself and not conscious of the cameras, still feels as if I am staring at someone else, so damaged have I been by people treating me as trash.

Yet, thankfully, I serve a God that is able to heal all wounds and to reverse all damage and so I am trusting him to continue to help me, not to think of myself more highly than I should but in the right manner.

If you are a child of God, I believe that he gives you a radiance and glow that can come only from Jesus, the Light of the World. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Matthew 5:14-16, further declares of all those that are Christians and therefore, emanate his light:

• “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.“

Your light cannot be dulled by the world or people’s treatment of you, whether they are at work, in your home, in the Church or otherwise. The fact that you are beautiful and radiantly so is undeniable. It angers the adversary the devil and his minions but dear child of God, once you remain rooted to Christ, try as they might, they can’t do a thing about it.

They may make you cry at times, as it sucks when people treat you like scum, hurl insults at you or consider you as even invisible but know that because of who is in you, you will be okay.

It is impossible for a candle that is lit, not to shine or a diamond or a sapphire not to glow. The same is true of you. Wherever you go, they see it, even if they pretend not to. It hurts their eyes and some deliberately put blinders over it to block out your light but to no avail. Some of them can perceive that you are a child of the King, as you may have experienced by them asking you outright, if you are a Christian.

I was personally asked by a lady at a new job I started, if I was a “Church girl”. She said it in a matter of fact way, as if she already knew and just wanted confirmation. When I told her that I was a Christian and asked why she had come to that conclusion, she said it was the way I styled my hair and how I carried myself. That was hilarious. I never knew a person’s hairstyle or how they walked could reveal their spiritual identity! I do not believe it was these factors though that gave me away. It was a radiance within and a beautiful peculiarity without, that she perceived.

Needless to say, it was only a few weeks after this, that she sought to put me down with insults in front of other workers and told me frankly, although I had been supporting her snacks sale, that she would rather that I not come!

I sensed that this lady, who had told me that she used to go to Church but had stopped was feeling convicted on the inside every time she saw me, of the sinful life she was living. Although she sold snacks therefore and I had given her much sale as I love to snack, she was willing to give up the money she would have continued to receive from me, a sure customer, just so that she would not have to see my face!

Wow! It was insulting but yet flattering at the same time. I acceded to her request and stopped descending the flight of stairs to the ground floor where she was, to purchase items, finding a new snack outlet within close vicinity to my work building, to satisfy my snack cravings.

Make no mistake, if you are a Christian, people will be resentful of your standing in Christ. Nevertheless, you are who you are and after all that they say and do, you will remain of significant value and worth in his sight.

(Written on 20^th February, 2024)