(Reposting from my orginal blog that was lost – original post date Oct. 11, 2011)
A woman is an interesting character. She can appear strong while crumbling on the inside. She can do ten things at once and still remember to call you and wish you a happy birthday (even though she may not be able to remember when she last ate.) It seems a woman can do just about anything she puts her mind to, almost. It seems the one thing almost every woman struggles to do, is realize her own worth.
God made each of us in His own image, a precious image. He created us as His special jewel and finds us of such value He sent His Son to Earth to prove it. Why then do we find it so hard to believe? Why are we so willing to lift others up for their talents, abilities or qualities, but keep ourselves down in the dirt? I dealt with those feelings myself, and honestly sometimes they try to come back. Feelings that I am not good enough. But That Is A Lie! Am I perfect, no, not by any means. But am I worthy of love, yes. Am I of worth, am I valuable, yes! Because God doesn’t make junk!
All through the Bible there are examples of how women are special to God. How He has taken special care in regard to them through history. Yet we struggle. We doubt ourselves, we treat ourselves all too often as less than worthy. This was the idea behind the Women of Worth, WOW, name given to our ladies bible study group here at Three Forks. To make sure all women know just how special they are! To encourage each other, to study His word and see what He has to say about us and to us.
In our first lesson together back in 2008 we began to look at our examples of women in scripture and we started “in the beginning” with Eve. Starting at the very creation of the world God wanted Adam to realize that he was not yet complete. God charged Adam with naming all the animals, and Adam discovered “there was not found a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:20) God could just as easily created Eve at the same moment He made Adam and allowed them to be together from the beginning, but he chose a different path. He waited for Adam to realize he was special, he was different, and he came to realize Eve’s worth too. His helper, his wife, was special and made just for him by God to be his perfect match. “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.” (Prov. 31:10)
We are each special, we are each loved. We may not realize it at times, but God does. His love is never ending for us. And we have a responsibility to Him to return that love. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:37-39) “As Yourself.” God wants us to love Him, and He wants us to love ourselves. We are not going to be able to truly love ourselves or others until we realize how much He already loves us! Once we realize how strong His love is for us, it will seep through all other parts of our lives. Until, slowly but surely, we will be able to look in the mirror and see what God sees! His precious child!
Last month, as we worshipped God together as Women of Worth at our 2nd ladies day, we celebrated 3 years of our bible studies together. (Although we were so busy I don’t think we realized it had been that long.) We enjoyed being together with Christian sisters from so many congregations around us. It was absolutely amazing! This Friday I am so blessed to once again be with some of these amazing women. Our ladies bible study group will meet for class and I hope if you are able that you will join us. We are blessed to be able to come together to learn of Him and celebrate together His love for us!
