Psalm 139:14

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. Psalm 139:14 NRSV

I really don't like the way I look. I have been a bit overweight for most of my life. I don't tan. I am not well coordinated. I am always sticking my foot in my mouth. I have to work at being a non-anxious presence. I have an amazing temper and I open my mouth before thinking most of the time. So many things I don't like about myself! And let's not even start on looking at myself in photographs!

What about you? What are the physical and personality traits that you aren't so fond of or that you made resolutions to change this year? I think we all can point out what we don't like about ourselves.

Yet the psalmist gently reminds us to appreciate ourselves. This verse is really an exercise in logic, if you read from the end of the verse to the beginning of the verse. What God has made is wonderful and awesome. We can all see that what God has made is great. God has created us. So, we must be wonderful and awesome! I am not sure about being made in fear but perhaps it has something to do with God's own nature as creator - it is a complex not simple feat to create. And that means we need to praise God for ourselves - just as we are!

God, we praise and thank you for creating us just as we are! May we accept ourselves and be good stewards at the same time. In Jesus' name. Amen.