I am standing here at my kitchen counter eating a late afternoon snack- it’s a bowl of kale salad with some olives. I’ve been trying to avoid snacking between meals, this has proved more difficult than easy. My husband is on this new lifestyle kick (I approve it) of cutting the garbage out of his diet and eating more un-processed whole foods, basically eating more clean and green. As a woman, I’ve been trying to do that for years, it’s taken him a while to catch up. So he keeps using words like processed, unbleached, whole, etc…The word “unprocessed” caught my attention. What does that mean anyway? It means unaltered from an original or natural state; not processed.
That speaks to me (not just about food) but about our authenticity of origin. In Genesis 1:27 So God created man(kind) in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
I don’t know about you but there are days I feel “processed.” I feel like I am not in the state that God desires me to be. Society and the people around us not to mention our life experiences have a way of “processing” us to be something other than God’s original intention. In fact my feeling of “processed” does not necessarily have to do with anything particular I have done wrong (sin).
I think we are encouraged too often to meet a standard that was never intended for us. We measure our self-worth by so many things, things that process our way of thinking into something negative and destructive. We measure our self-worth by the bathroom scales (I have to constantly fight this urge), by the size of clothing we can fit into, or how other people see us, etc… Sigh, that is like processed food- it’s bad for you and yet it becomes addictive, doesn’t it? Being processed by the world drops our self-esteem, our confidence, our self-worth, even our love for ourselves and it increases our depression, irritation, and temper while lowering our patience and compassion for others.
And yet the bible says we are created in the image of God, you weren’t just made in any old image but God’s image, that’s a powerful image! God does not make things that need to be processed, that is things that need to be altered by the measurements this world suggests.
This brings me (back) to the Apostle Paul in one of my favorite all time bible scriptures: Ephesians 2:10 10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. (NET) I also love how the CEB words it Ephesians 2: 10 Instead, we are God’s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives.
There is something about being God’s workmanship that really tugs at my heart. We were not fused together with leftovers or old worn out pieces, we were created with the best of ingredients, in the image of God. He used the best qualities, the best characteristics, the best virtues and placed them within each of us. Sometimes we don’t see those traits because the world has told us we need to be processed into something we were never intended for, telling us we need a modification, we need adjusting, and revising. And sometimes we don’t see those features within ourselves because the world has unapologetically distorted our vision (of ourselves).
I don’t know what you are eating these days but I hope your spiritual and emotional food is basing in the knowledge that you are created in the image of God, not some evolving leftover… food for thought… be mindful of what you are putting in your spirit, mind, and heart… remember you are God’s workmanship created for good works… Put good things in your mind, spirit, and heart… (things that will build you up not tear you down by revising you)
Good Afternoon Ladies!