The following borrows heavily from a sermon by @ravmatt

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God. And that is who we are.” 1 John 3:1

Our first calling in life is not to serve God, or worship God, or any of the other things we might have in mind. Our first and most important calling is to be loved by God. We are made for Him, for His purposes, and our very first purpose is to receive His love. Even before we are born, we are loved by Him. We are called to have a relationship with Yeshua (Jesus) our Messiah. God has called each one of us to be sons and daughters. As the saying goes, there are no grandchildren in the kingdom of God. You, your children and your children’s children will all be considered first generation children of God, all equals in His kingdom.

When we talk about love, however, it is important to remember that our own ability to frame the concept of love is often dictated by our own experiences. Usually it is our first relationship that we have with our mothers & fathers that determines whether we are able to understand and receive love later on in life. Hearing that God loves us the way a father does, it is natural for us to compare the love of a perfect God to our (very) imperfect parents. Some of us have bad relationships with our parents, making it difficult for us to accept God’s love. For example, if we know that God loves us unconditionally, but we ourselves have never experienced unconditional love, it’s very hard for us to accept what that really means.

The thing about children is they don’t get to choose their parents. As Pastor Rick Warren said, “there are no accidental children; only accidental parents.” If your parents told you that you were an accident, you might naturally feel worthless. You might wonder why God would even want you if your own parents did not. The best way I can explain it is this: when God created us, it was no accident. The account of creation as described in Genesis is rooted in intent, and when God created Man, He didn’t just call it good, He called it very good.

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.” Genesis 1:31

The first thing God ever said about you was this: that you are “very good.”

But God doesn’t just love you. He likes you! This might seem like a minor thing, but there’s a big difference. You see, he has to love us, he’s God! He created us in His own image. But I’ve come to realize that God often looks at each one of us and says, “I’d love to hang out with you sometime.” We often talk about getting into God’s presence, but the truth is that He loves to be in ours!

Sometimes when we get into situations where we look at ourselves and we don’t like what we see, when we start comparing ourselves to others and we wish we could be somebody else, I think God looks down on us and says, “I didn’t make a mistake. I didn’t give you the wrong personality. I didn’t give you the wrong face. I like you. I made you. And I wish you could see in yourself what I see in you.”

Many of us might not think about God. We often ignore Him as we are running about our lives. But God did not just make us to survive. God has a unique calling for each of us. And as His sons and daughters, He wants the very best for us.

When we compare ourselves to others, we are taking away from what God made us to be. When we are not content with ourselves, we are downplaying the great & unique calling that God has for us. On the flip side, when we are content with what God wants us to be, we no longer envy others, because we accept that our calling is unique. But this is not the same as just accepting who you are right now. Yeshua (Jesus) says come just as you are, and then be prepared to have your life completely and miraculously changed. There are things about each one of us that define us currently that God did not intend for us. There are things about us that God intends to change. The simplest way I can explain this is, there is a better version of “you” that God has in store. Accepting who you are in God is accepting all the great things that God has in store for you. It means accepting who you were before, who you are now, and the great person that you will become in the future. It’s accepting the unique talents and gifts that make you so great. It allowing yourself to be defined by Him, who is perfect. We are imperfect, but God in us makes us perfect.

Our lives don’t look like straight lines, or even winding paths, or a fork in the road. You life probably resembles a thousand different paths all leading into uncertainty. But God sees every aspect of your life — each path and where it will lead. He sees your past, where you are now, and all the great things He has in store for you. When He looks at you, He doesn’t see flaws or failures. He doesn’t look at you and expect bad things. He sees the very best — the things He intended for you.

At this year’s Academy Awards, Matthew McConaughey made an interesting point about who he considers to be his hero. At first listen it came across as a little bit arrogant, but the more I considered it, the more I realized that it’s an important lesson that we should be teaching to our own children. Here’s an excerpt from his awards speech:

“When I was 15 years old, I had an important person in my life come to me and say, ‘Who is your hero?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know. I gotta think about that. Give me a couple weeks.’ I come back two weeks later and this person comes up, ‘Who’s your hero?’ I said, ‘I thought about it, you know who it is? It’s me in 10 years. So I turn 25, 10 years later, and that same person comes to me and says, ‘So, are you a hero?’ And I say, ‘Not even close. No, no, no. My hero is me at 35.’ You see every day, every week, every year of my life my hero is always 10 years away. I’m never gonna be my hero, I’ll never attain that. I know I’m not and that’s just fine with me because that keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing”

I think God looks at each of us this way. He doesn’t want us to try to be like others. Even if you try to be like someone else, you will never be as good at being them as they are. The best version of anything you can be, is the best version of you. If there is anything you should be chasing, it’s the best possible version that God sees in you. If that means being your own hero, then so be it. Amen.

When we look at ourselves negatively, that is not from God. God just wants us to be faithful. He likes us even when we make mistakes. It’s like this — I love my son. I love the way he looks, I love the personality he has, and I like spending time with him. Now sometimes he has bad days, and he can be a real pain to be with. But just because he has a bad day doesn’t mean I stop loving him. And even when you think that you’ve been terrible and God won’t possibly love you anymore, the fact is He loves you just as much. He wants to help you be a better person.

We often strive so much to be approved by other people, whether they are our parents, our friends, our coworkers or even strangers. But in our Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), we are already approved. We are accepted by the Creator, who knew us before we were even formed in the womb. We strive for acceptance from other people, but that’s rooted in the false thinking that God hasn’t accepted us. When we realize that God accepts us, we no longer need to worry about what other people think of us. If God accepts us, we don’t need to be ashamed, and therefore, other people can’t shame us. If God is in us, He approves of us.

When we understand that God loves us and accepts us, then we can have a real relationship with Him. Often we treat God as if He is far away — we have these big, flowery prayers, and we act as if we need to make ourselves something we are not to speak with Him. But our own children are not like this. Kids don’t go to their parents and make big prayer-like requests. They don’t say things like, “Oh father, master of the household, provider of all my sustenance, please allow me the honor of having one cracker, and may it be according to your will.” They simply say, “Dad, I want a cracker.” And when we realize that God is our father, we can likewise say to Him, “you know, I just want a job” or “I really want to have more friends” or “I just want to be happy.”

“Therefore, let us confidently approach the throne from which God gives grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

When we understand that God loves us, accepts us, approves of us, and likes us, then we can have a real relationship with Him.