Pastoral Care Ministries

There is a quiet struggle many of us carry — a subtle resistance to who we are.

It doesn’t always sound like outright rejection. More often, it shows up as comparison, dissatisfaction, or the constant feeling that we should be different. Better. Stronger. Less emotional. More like someone else. We learn to live with the belief that who we are, as we are, is not quite enough.

But Scripture invites us into a very different way of seeing ourselves.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

These words are not meant only for others. They are meant for you. They speak to the reality that your life was intentionally created by God. You are not random. You are not overlooked. You were formed with care, with purpose, and with attention. God does not make mistakes. And He did not start with you.

Yet receiving this truth can be difficult.

Many of us have learned, through experiences or wounds, to question our value. We compare ourselves to others, criticize our weaknesses, and focus on what we wish we could change. Instead of receiving ourselves as God’s creation, we treat ourselves as a project — something to fix, improve, or redefine.

Leanne Payne wrote often about the importance of accepting ourselves as God’s creation rather than rejecting who He has made us to be. She believed that much of our striving and self-hatred comes from being disconnected from the truth of our identity in Christ. Healing begins when we come into agreement with God about who we are.

But to receive yourself is not an act of pride. It is an act of agreement with God.

It is choosing to trust that what He has made has value.

Psalm 139 reminds us that God’s involvement in our lives is personal: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” There is intention in that image. Care. Nearness. God was not distant in your creation — He was present.

This means your personality, your story, and even the parts of you that feel weak or unfinished are not outside of His awareness. You are fully seen by Him.

Receiving yourself does not mean ignoring areas of growth or denying brokenness. Scripture is clear that we are still being transformed. But transformation does not begin with rejection — it begins with truth.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

God does not relate to you through condemnation. He meets you with truth and with grace. And as you receive His love, your perspective begins to change — not only about Him, but about yourself.

When we constantly criticize ourselves or refuse to accept who we are, we are not only criticizing ourselves — we are also criticizing the One who created us. We are His workmanship, His creation, His art. To continually tear ourselves apart is, in many ways, to reject the work of the Artist Himself.

“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Learning to receive yourself starts with receiving His love. As that love becomes more real, the need to strive, compare, or prove yourself begins to loosen. You no longer have to earn worth that has already been given.

You were created by God.

You are known by Him.

And your life has value — not because of what you do, but because you are His.

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

Even if it feels unfamiliar, this is truth.

And learning to receive that truth is part of walking in freedom.

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