CRAFTSMANSHIP

Craftsmanship = the quality of design and work shown in something made by hand; artistry

I think it’s pretty, stinking cool how Jesus was a carpenter like his earthly father, Joseph. (Matthew 13:55)  Of all of the trades that Jesus could have pursued or learned, it was carpentry, which was a family trade. He created, He built, and He had a plan for everything He made, while He didn’t have to. I like to just imagine Him just carving away or piecing together bits of wood, working so diligently until every part was in its rightful place…designing with so much love and care…His hands holding everything together.  I love to think about how He admires every new creation  with so much excitement and fulfillment, knowing that He made it.

(Please note: carpentry is a form of craftsmanship.)

And I don’t know about you, but getting creative is one of my favorite things to do... I’m no carpenter by any means, but I’m obsessed with crafting. I love anything that involves refurbishing antiques and utilizing antique paper, decorating, creating graphics, painting, and writing, and I’m not going to lie - I’m a tad OCD with it too. (THIS IS A JUDGE FREE ZONE, AND YOU KNOW YOU DO THIS TOO.) But seriously, I will not stop until whatever I’m working on is to my liking, perfect in my eyes, and then, I release it. 

Do you know why Jesus loves us so much? He was there when creation began (John 1:1-5). He was there when God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” and made it happen(Genesis 1:26 NKJV). We are His craftsmanship and His artistry. We belong to Him, and He looks at us with great admiration because we are handcrafted by Him and beautifully made in His sight.  We are His children and creation, and just like we admire and love the things that we have made, that’s exactly how He feels about us…

What breaks my heart and infuriates me is someone that we all know very well, and her name is comparison. She’s ugly, likes to bring depression along with her, rips homes apart, snatches up our kids and teens, and tears through every social media platform without exception. She causes us to look at ourselves and think, “Gosh, I wish I looked like her” or “Man, I wish I was talented like him.”  And I’m not even going to sit here and lie, there have been days where I have found myself wishing, “Man, I want to have that creative juice that Joanna Gaines has and pipes like Kari Jobe!” (Ladies, you already know!) But in all seriousness though, we war day in and day out wishing to be something that we weren’t created to be, and then, we compare our successes to other’s successes. We try to live vicariously through others, and allow someone else’s reality to become our own. We tear ourselves apart, criticizing every square inch of what God has created when the Holy Spirit is saying, “You are God’s craftsmanship, and there is a calling on your life.” 

(LET THAT LAST SENTENCE SINK IN FOR JUST A MINUTE.)

Now, I want to push this further.

Who you are and your journey are meant to be your own. Fam, can I please encourage you to stop looking at others and start looking up? Look at the One who made you. He made you exactly how you’re supposed to be, and He made you in His image. He carved out every dimple, every tissue, placed every freckle where it’s supposed to be, colored your skin and eyes, and placed every hair upon your head. He has given you your own personality, attributes and traits, talents, and spiritual gifts. He has details planned out, places for you to be and areas where He wants you to serve,  people lined up to minister to you and people that you will have the privilege to minister to, and He has doors that He wants to open on your behalf…So, are you willing to hang up the dreams of others and follow His lead for your life? Are you ready to embrace what you see in the mirror? Because friend, you are a beautifully made vessel purposed for so much more.

PLEASE GET THIS: Comparison is sent as a distraction, and she is the handiwork of the enemy so that you forget about God’s craftsmanship and His calling on your life...COMPARISON IS SENT TO CONSUME  because when she rules over us, we forget about who we are altogether. 

It’s time that we kick her out.

It’s time for us to stop rejecting ourselves and stop trying to be something that we aren’t.

It’s time for us to rise to the occasion to fulfill our own calling and not someone else’s.

God loves you more than you could ever know just as you are, and don’t you ever forget that. He isn’t asking you to be something that you’re not.

He is asking you to be you…because He loves you.

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”- Ephesians 3:14-19 NKJV

My prayer for you:

Lord, I speak assurance and provision over your people. God, I pray that they would see how precious they are in Your sight, and I rebuke and curse the spirit of comparison. She isn’t welcome here anymore, and God, we take hold of the fact that YOU made us. Help us to keep our eyes only on You and not anything else. Help us to understand that our journey and our being are uniquely ours and no one else's. God, I believe that You are setting people free from the grip of the enemy, and I speak liberty over my brothers and sisters. Have Your way Father, in Jesus name..

Amen.