Today, we continue diving into our personal worth, our true identity.

One of the greatest artists of all time was the sculptor and painter Michelangelo. In the early 1500s, when he was commissioned by the Catholic Church in Rome to paint the twelve apostles of Christ against a starry sky onto the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he asked if he could paint a more complex scheme. Over the next four years, Michelangelo painted nine scenes from Genesis onto the chapel ceiling, including over three hundred characters. He divided the artistic mural into four groups:

—God’s creation of the earth

—God’s creation of mankind

—Man’s fall from God’s grace

—God’s redemption of man with the salvation of Noah and his family.

Today, you can still see Michelangelo’s amazing work, which has been preserved over the centuries. What if God has uniquely placed you into His painting of life to be a key character? He has artistically orchestrated your life, skills, gifts, talents, and qualities to be used in His masterpiece. But, it’s your call. He’s a Gentleman, so He will not force you to believe in Him. But know this: God definitely believes in you and wants you in the picture, right there with Him, in the middle of His canvas.

Now consider this: What if you are painted into His masterpiece, and yet He also allows you to be a painter with His hands guiding the brush. God wants to involve and engage you in His story to change the world.

(Psalm 139:13-18 NLT)

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Our hope this week is for God’s Word and work in your life to be so clear that you see who you are in Him and that truth will forever re-shape and re-purpose the rest of your life, as well as how you parent your children.

Let’s pray together: “Father, while I may struggle to use words about myself like “complex, marvelous, and precious,” thank You that You have expressed those feelings toward me. I want to believe my worth in and through You and I want to receive my identity from You. As above, so below.”