REAL-LIFE BARBIE DOLLS
Wanna see something scary? Google “plastic surgery Barbie.” It’s off-the-charts creepy. Women who endure plastic surgery to look like a Barbie doll. For an even creepier experience, try “plastic surgery cat people”—for those who want to relate to their kitties. But if you really want to spike your “creepy meter” (I can’t imagine why you would) google “Zombie Angelina Jolie.” It’s beyond anything you could imagine.
Don’t get me wrong. Those with severe facial birth defects or who experience horrible accidents, find plastic surgery can create new worlds of possibilities. But deliberately choosing surgery which deforms us? Someone please enlighten me. These “beauty treatments” often require dozens of painful “under-the-knife” episodes. Maybe it’s extreme self-loathing. Or some sort of twisted addiction gone really bad. But before we delight in too much finger-pointing, to some degree, we all struggle with the same issue—only these folks have taken it to bizarre extremes. What lies at the root is a failure to accept who we are. We allow ourselves to be defined by some sort of alternate identity.
I don’t believe God causes birth defects. That’s the result of living in a fallen world. Nevertheless, each of us is individually designed by our Creator with a unique destiny on our lives (Psalm 139:13-16). God clearly spells out our identity in Christ throughout scripture. Read Ephesians 1:3-14, and note all the descriptions of who God says we are. “Wrapped into Christ… holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence… his delightful children… claimed by God as his inheritance… before we were even born, he gave us our destiny…” (TPT). Those aren’t my words. That’s how our Creator defines us!
At times, we all struggle with believing who God says we are. That’s why we pursue every sort of false identity Satan throws our way. For me it’s work. I struggle with allowing preaching and writing to define me, rather than the Lord. For others, it can be people-pleasing or driving the fastest car, or living in the fanciest neighborhood, or how many “likes” you get on Facebook, or...
Here’s what counts—who does God say I am? I don’t need to chase after Satan’s bait. Allowing Jesus to define me frees me to experience real life. And I promise that doesn’t mean looking like a Barbie doll, a cat or an Angelina Jolie zombie!
Principle: Our identity is found in who God says we are.
Promise: Allowing Jesus to define me frees me to experience real life.
Ponder:
In what areas of life do I seek to find my identity, rather than in Jesus?
How does understanding how God defines me change my life?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Ephesians 1:3-14.
Prayer: “Lord, I confess that I’m often tempted to pursue the false identities the devil dangles in front of me. Put my eyes on you, and help me to believe in who you say I am.”
Perceptions: Record any ideas God puts on your heart from today’s devotion.