God has made you who you are and to do good works

Ephesians 2:10 (NCV) (Version 2)

God has made us what we are.  In Christ, God made us to do good works which He planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. 

Many years ago there was a popular Christian seminar series led by Bill Gothard.  Thousands of people would fill a room at the Indianapolis Convention Center for teachings every week night and all day Friday and Saturday.  The presentations and workshops focused on Christian Life Principles.  Gothard taught that there are six main areas of conflict in our lives---assurance of salvation, self-image, purpose in life, harmony at home, moral purity, and genuine friendships 

Ephesians 2:10 relates to the conflict of self-image and purpose in life.  The first sentence deals with your self-image--“God made you what you are” (other translations state that “we are His workmanship”).  You were designed by God and whatever your physical and other characteristics are, God prescribed them for His purpose.  Yet most people---and you need to ask yourself if you are one of these---are extremely self-conscious about how they look; particularly if there is some physical deficiency.  If you admit that there is something about your inborn features that you would change if you had the power to do so, you are admitting that God’s workmanship is inferior.  This attitude, in turn, raises problems with your trust in Him in other areas of your life.  Problems with self-image lead to over-attention on clothes, excessive shyness, difficulty in loving others, self-criticism, wishful comparison to others, wrong priorities, awkward attempts to hide unchangeable defects, and other evidences of self-rejection.

If you recognize any of these attitudes in your life, you must take steps to accepting yourself for who and how God created you.  Deficiencies in outward appearances have the potential to lead to the development of inward Christlike qualities and character that you never would develop otherwise.  Rather than resent how you look, thank God for the way He has made you.  As Gothard taught, “put yourself on God’s easel and purpose to cooperate with Him in developing inward qualities that will enable you to serve Him and put others before yourself.”  

The second sentence deals with your purpose in life.  God has made you in Christ to do good works, works that He has planned in advance for you to do.  Note that His plan for you involves your relationship with Christ.  Such works involve development of spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:28, II Peter 1:5-8) and applying the specific spiritual gifts He has given to you (Romans 12:6-21).  The more you focus on these pursuits, the greater assurance you will feel about the purpose and meaning of your life.  Such pursuits will also enable you to resist the attacks of Satan whose main goal is to deceive you into thinking that your life has no purpose or meaning. 

What main thoughts do you have and what new attitudes might you embrace as a result of meditating over these words, particularly those from the Word of God?  Never again have a self-rejection attitude.  You are who you are because God made you that way.  Accept this truth with gratitude and resolve to be who He wants you to be.