Who told you so?

Does anyone else have a nagging voice in the back of their minds telling them they don’t measure up, or they don’t belong, or just feeding other negative thoughts? I’m willing to bet it’s not just me! But I came across something that resonated with me when I was reading through the bible.

Genesis 3, God says to Adam and Eve “Who told you that you were naked?”

Up until this point they had been living in the garden alongside each other and with God perfectly happily. But after listening to the snake and eating from the wrong tree, they suddenly became self-conscious and felt the need to hide from each other and from God. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should revert back (I believe there are laws against that now!)

What I’m saying is that we can often create barriers between ourselves and others and ourselves and God that don’t need to exist. Think of Adam and Eve before eating the fruit, happy with who they were, without feeling that they needed to hide. Think of a small child who will dance to the slightest hint of a tune (and even when there is no music at all!) or will sing just because they feel like it without caring what other people think of them. Or young children at preschool who will play with each other without cliques, at least to begin with, because everyone belongs.

It’s only when we get a bit older that we start to listen to what others think, and suddenly we can become self-conscious and refuse to dance or sing, or we start to think we need to try harder because we’re not very smart, or we start finding groups of kids and feel the need to try and fit in rather than being free to just be who we are.

But who told us that we aren’t clever? Who told us that we don’t fit in or belong? Who told us that we can’t sing/dance/draw/(insert your personal experience here)? Because I know for a fact that it wasn’t God.

In fact, in a quick search in the bible, God views us as ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’, ‘the apple of his eye’ and ‘very good’ (compared to the rest of creation which is ‘good’). God doesn’t compare his children, he delights in exactly who they are. Exactly who we are.

If we are so happy we want to sing or dance, God laughs with us because we are happy, not at us because he is judging us. He doesn’t look at a test score and label us ‘stupid’ or ‘a failure’. He sees our hearts and the things we enjoy doing and takes an interest. He doesn’t look at us and tell us we should hide that particular scar, or cover that particular mark with make-up. In fact, to God, we are, every single one of us, a beautiful example of his creation.

I guess what I’m trying to say (to myself as much as to you) is to think carefully before listening to that small voice making you self-conscious or tearing you down. Because if you stop and think “Why do I think that? Who told me that?” the answer is not going to be God, and just maybe we can start ignoring that little voice and start walking with our heads up and doing what we enjoy doing without feeling self-conscious or worried about what others think.