“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory …” (1 Samuel 2:8)
The world offers us little help to be who they want us to be. They set a bar for beauty, talent, and excellence, and as much as they talk about accepting people as they are, they don’t. If one doesn’t have “it,” or has lost “it,” expect merciless despising and rejection.
God also has a standard. The bar He has set for us is His Son. But God gives us all the help we need to be who He wants us to be. Christ is given within so we might bear His beautiful image without. If we fall short of His glory, He patiently restores our soul, and gets us back on track. Unlike the world, His mercies are new every morning, and His compassion for us never runs out. He is faithful to complete the wonderful work He has begun in our life.
Don’t buy the line that God is some oppressor who won’t let us be who we are. The god of this world is the true oppressor, who dupes man into filling a mold that is anything but beautiful. And when he fails to live up to the shameful template, he holds him up for derision and disgust.
God is a good God, who has a glorious template for us to pattern ourselves after. He Himself enters us to patiently fashion us after His likeness. Don’t sorrow that you fall short in the world’s eyes. God receives the world’s rejects, and gives them all they need to be all He wants them to be.