As Jesus died on the cross, a few women stood nearby, caring for their Lord to the very end. Watching him die must have been excruciating for them. They must have been so hurt, grieved and confused… or did they have hope that he really would rise again? Did they understand that he was dying for each of them? Did they understand that he was saving the world from their sins?
Today, I have some things I need to lay before the cross. I have some things I need his blood to wash over and make whole again.
The world’s temptations can be so strong and so consuming. I’ve grown up in a society that puts such an emphasis on appearances and perfectionism. To the world I live in, there is a perfect body type, a perfect weight, and a perfect way to look. I don’t fit into any of these. Because I don’t, I’ve been taught that my whole life needs to revolve around obtaining this physical perfection. To the world, it doesn’t matter what I’m like on the inside, it’s only how I look on the outside. If I’m overweight I need to diet, if my skin is pimply I need to fix that, if I don’t have those clothes, I need to buy them. Even as a Christian girl, I seem to take what the world says as truth. Magazines, movies, television shows, even the Internet show me this image as something to obtain, at any cost.
To God, there is no such thing as gaining beauty or perfection. To him, I already am beautiful. As one of my favorite passages of scriptures states, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth” (Psalm 139:13-15).
He created every single part of me. I am no mistake. And so, once again, I need to lay the worldly image of what I should look like at the foot of the cross, and pick up a totally different image. This image is that of an imperfect girl, saved by faith. It’s the image of a work of art, made exactly as her creator wanted her to be. It’s the image of a girl who likes to be healthy, exercise, and wear pretty clothes, not to meet some “earthly perfection,” but because her body is home to something wonderful, the Holy Spirit: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
What do you need to lay at the foot of the cross today?
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