Pop Quiz!
Do any of these struggles resonate with you?
- You battle anxiety, depression, or any other type of mental illness.
- You wish that you had the perfect body.
- You want to be loved for who you are.
- You strive to be perfect, but end up falling short
- You feel that you are not good enough
As a young woman myself, I can understand what you are going through. The constant battle of perfection, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness is draining to the soul. It leaves you feeling empty, drained, and without life or purpose. But what if I told you there is someone out there who can help you? Someone who understands far better and offers hope? But before I talk about this person, we need to go back to the beginning.
The Beginning
“In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NLT).
Before you and I were born, there was God! God, in his infinite knowledge and wisdom, made everything you see before. That beautiful sunset that you took a picture of last night? That was God’s work. The rain that poured down to water the grass? That’s also God’s work.
But God didn’t stop at just making the whole world we see around us. He also made you!
” You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous -how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day was recorded in your book.”(Psalm 139:13-16, NLT)
God made you, all of you, from your looks to your personality. Nothing about how you look is a mistake. And who knows what the best part is – you bear His image.
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female, he created them.” (Genesis 1:27)
In his own image means you bear many of the same attributes that God has – kindness, compassion, and more. And because you are made in God’s image, you carry worth!
The Bad News
The reason why we, as young women, struggle with these issues and more is that it stems from one thing – sin. Sin was introduced when the first people God created, Adam and Eve, willingly chose to do what they wanted rather than obey God. And from that single moment, everything changed.
And to be clear, sin isn’t tied to just bad people who commit crimes and cause chaos. It is in every human being – you and me! Have you ever told a lie, even a small one? That’s sin! What about gossiping about someone else? That’s also a sin! Sin deviates from God’s perfect standard.
Sin is a serious issue – it not only destroyed God’s perfect world but also destroyed our relationship with him. God is holy and righteous, so he cannot be in the presence of sin – he detests it. And because God is holy and righteous, sin cannot simply be overlooked. It must be judged. The punishment we deserve for our sin is hell, eternal separation from God under his just wrath
We, as human beings, try to solve it ourselves, with our “good deeds”, but that doesn’t fix the issue and restore our relationship with God. So, humanity is now stuck with this sinful nature, with no hope to fix it ourselves, and headed towards our eternal punishment.
I know, it sounds depressing and hopeless. But stick with me – this is not the end of the story….
The Good News
Even before sin entered the world, God had a plan to redeem man. Remember that person I wanted to introduce to you earlier? That person is Jesus!
God sent Jesus down from heaven to our broken world as a baby. During his brief time on Earth, he lived a sinless life. He also experienced everything that you faced. That battle with depression that dragged you down into hopelessness – Jesus experienced it too. The sudden news of losing a loved one – Jesus went through that too. The key difference is that Jesus did it without sinning. So take heart, Jesus knows exactly what you are dealing with because he experienced it too.
But perhaps the most important reason he came to Earth is to redeem us from our sin. But to do that, Jesus needed to die. You see, for sin to be atoned, there needed to be a sacrifice to take the place of the person who committed the offense. Jesus, out of his vast love and compassion for us, sinners, willingly let himself be that sacrifice for us. From verbal abuse to being whipped and beaten to his death on the cross, Jesus endured and died for your sin to be forgiven and pardoned. And then, three days later, he came back to life, proving that he beat death and sin for us. And because of his sacrifice, we get to spend eternity with God – free from sin and struggles in this fallen world!
And now he extends this gracious invitation:
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13, NLT)
So what now….?
So, you heard the story and met Jesus, now you must be thinking – what does this have to do with me? How can Jesus help me with my issues?
No matter what you have done or what you are going through, Jesus invites you to come to Him, turn from your sin, and trust in his finished work on the cross.
And when you do place faith in Jesus…
With Jesus, we are made clean and new, forgiven for all the sins that we’ve committed, and we get to spend eternity with him.
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT)
The sin that separated us is defeated. We can have a new relationship with God again.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord, has brought (Romans 5:1, NLT)
While we will still struggle and sin, we have hope in Christ that his sacrifice is enough, his grace is sufficient, and that he is with us no matter what we face in this life.
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16, NLT)
As I said, Jesus knows and has experienced everything you are going through. And he wants to help you in your time of need.
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. “(Hebrews 4:15, NLT)
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. When we turn to Jesus in faith, ALL your sin – past, present, and future, is forgiven, and you are made new.
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness”(1 John 1:9)
With God, nothing is a waste. He uses your struggles, your past, your sin, regrets, etc for a much greater purpose.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes for them. – Romans 8:28
The daily struggles that we women face are overwhelming. But with Jesus, we can overcome whatever battles we face. In no way am I claiming to be perfect, and I still struggle with my battles regularly. But with Jesus, I have hope that he will carry me through this and that his grace and sacrifice are sufficient for me, no matter what I am going through.
