Into the first two chapters of Genesis, God created everything and then on the sixth day he created man in his image. And because he wasn’t quite finished…as a grand finale, God created woman.
Genesis 2:21-22 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
1 Corinthians 11:7 … woman is the glory of man.
Think about it….I mean, let’s stop and think about it. The world was not complete without woman.
The world was not complete without us.
We – You and Me – all of us women – we are the glorious finishing touch of the creation of the world!
The world wasn’t right without us. We are needed. We are required. We are wanted.
Not only are we, women, the finishing touch, we are created in God’s image. We are his feminine image.
Genesis 1:27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
So what does all of this tell us about God?
God longs for romance.
God longs to share life with us.
God has a beauty to unveil.
God is relational.
How many of us define ourselves by our relationships and what’s going on with them?
I’m a mom. I’m a sister. I’m a daughter. I’m a business woman.
What if my sister is mad at me? What if my daughter isn’t talking to me. What if I screwed up royally at work?
What is the definition of ourselves then?
And how many of us believe this relational definition of ourselves is a weakness?
I used to.
Until I realized that my being relational is a direct reflection of God being relational.
We are made in God’s image. We want relationships. God wants a relationship with us.
Think about it. God must be truly hurt/sad/lonely when we are not working on our relationship with him. He must truly care about us. He must really and truly love us. We must have really and truly captivated his heart. And if there is any doubt that God longs for your love, just flip open your bible and look to the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:36-38 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
He could have commanded us to do ANYTHING, yet he replied with love me. And not just love me. But love me with all your soul and all your mind. I mean WOW. He’s practically begging us to love him!
That’s like us when someone we love is the center of our world. We long for them. We want to be with them all the time. We want to play a intricate part in their life. We want to be their priority just like they are our priority.
Again, what does this mean? God is vulnerable. God is jealous. God has yearnings and desires. …just…like…us… He longs to be desired just like us. And we know this to be true because we are made in his image!
So after God commanded us to love him, the next verses in Matthew takes the love relationship a little further.
Matthew 22:39-40 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
It’s also reinforced in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Throughout the bible we hear how important love is. Romans 13:10 tells us that love is the fulfillment of the law.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Describes what love is… Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Romans 12 talks about how love looks when put it into action.
Romans 12:9-11 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:17-18 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
It’s so important to love one another because if we aren't, we are sinning. We are disobeying God’s commands which results in sin. Sin separates us from God. We can’t be close to God if we are sinning. In fact, the bible actually tells us that sinning actually equals death.
Proverbs 10:16 The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.
Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Proverbs 6:20-23 My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them always on your heart; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,
Sin is death. Sin kills life. Whenever we sin we are killing something in our lives. Sins like lying, cheating and betrayal can kill a relationship between two people. Sin destroys trust. Sin brings death to those who partake in it.
So if we aren’t loving God and everyone, we need to repent – change our ways – and turn from sin back to the Lord. And when we turn back to the Lord, where is he? Is he a mile down the road and we have to run back to find him? Nope. He’s standing right there…nose to nose with us. He forgives us and rejoices in our love for him.
Pretty powerful when you think about it. Love is everything. Love actually allows us to see the beauty in things. Without love, everything is dark, dreary, hopeless.
God’s image is one of beauty. Everything about him is beautiful. Not just outward beauty but more importantly inward beauty. God gave Eve both a beautiful appearance and a beautiful spirit…so he has given it to us. Again, we are made in his image…his image of beauty.
Beauty. Beauty is so many things to us.
Beauty speaks to us. It says all should be well. It says all is okay. That all is good.
Beauty invites us in. It says, come sit with me and relax for a while. Flickering fire, beach, driving down a country road, sunset, good book, sound of a babbling brook…these things invite us in and ask us to stay a while.
Beauty comforts…it’s healing soothes the soul.
Beauty inspires us to a higher calling and asks us to become better.
Beauty takes things to a higher level.
Beauty is the most essential and misunderstood quality’s of God…and therefore the most misunderstood of our feminine qualities as well. I’m not sure about all of you, but I have more often than not wound myself up into a tizzy over beauty. I mean, who doesn’t long to be beautiful and desired. We all struggle…society places such unrealistic expectations on us…and we struggle to achieve.
We want to be pursued and sought after. We want to be known. Giving to others part of our souls takes time. We just can’t let anyone know and have all of us right out of the shoot. It’s a slow process. It’s an unveiling of our beauty.
In short...
We are the crown of creation. The finishing touch.
Without love, we aren’t able to see the beauty in God, others or in ourselves.
God longs for a relationship with us, he longs to comfort and protect us, he longs to get to know us, he longs to be our number one priority…
We bear the image of God…so we long for all of those things, too.
What we may once had thought to be weaknesses are actually glorified through God and should be rejoiced in.
Musings on Chapter 2 of Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge
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