Daily Meditation: "Take It Seriously"

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

SCRIPTURE

"You have made us a little lower than God, and crowned us with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:4-5

REFLECTION

What if we took these two verses from Psalm 8 seriously? How would it change the world?

Would the huge proliferation of industries that make their millions and billions off of our own self-doubt and self-criticism be able to survive? All of the products sold because we aren’t thin enough, attractive enough, smart enough, confident enough, whatever we aren’t “enough” of that people can offer us the solution to and make a buck; if we took Psalm 8:4-5 to heart they’d all be gone tomorrow.

We need to stop being reminded of what we aren’t and start affirming each other more about what we in fact are. Fred Rogers did this with our youngest every day for years as he affirmed how special everyone is just the way they are. Yet we too easily forget that, and the world around us doesn’t help. We wish we were “this or that” about someone else. We think if we only had x, y, or z we’d be happy, more successful, and more confident. We are constantly bombarded by messages that what we are isn’t enough and if we were only more, we’d be happy.

It’s an illusion, and it prays upon our insecurities. In reality, we are made just a little lower than God, crowned with glory and honor. What if we greeted each other every day reminding each other how amazing we are? What if we affirmed how gifted and wonderfully unique each of us is in our schools, our jobs, our houses of worship, and our governments? What if each day we were reminded how amazing we are, instead of being made to feel that we aren’t enough and we need to change?

Try taking Psalm 8:4-5 to heart for a week and see what happens. Maybe we’ll start something long overdue for all our sakes.

PRAYER

Amazing God, remind us how wonderfully we are made and that each of us is beloved by you just the way we are.

Amen.

Peace,

Shawn