It's Not An Image Issue

I am of the opinion lately that humans do not have an identity or image issue, but rather we have a heart issue. 

You see, we were designed. Not exploded into being by a sudden gas mixture like a lab accident. We were drawn out in angelic sketchbook, tweaked and edited. Drawn just the way the Great Designer wanted. Maybe He made a model of us too, where He reworked it to bring out the unique qualities of each individual He ordained. Then He placed the twinkle in our fathers’ eyes, so to speak. Then He knitted us together in the womb, watching us develop from start to finish, crafting out lives to reflect His original sketch.

And God made them male and female; reflecting the different sides of Himself. 

Men He created to be reflections of his might, and brawn, his power and authority and virility. His power and awesomeness is on display. God DESIGNED men to lead, provide, and conquer the earth. Strength and power are supposed to show through here. It’s on purpose. Not a cruel or domineering man, but a man who is beautiful in his power under self-control and authority administered with love. It is a good design by a Loving Creator.   

And God said, “It is NOT GOOD for man to be alone.” So God made woman.

Women are the reflection of God’s heart and means of solutions. Women reflect the Designers brilliance and His loving concern for the heart of matters in life. God designed women to care about little things and to protect the hearts of those they love. Women hunt down the enemy, showing the cleverness of God. It’s on purpose. Not a nagging, lewd, or viperous woman, but a woman who is gorgeous in her genius under control, enabling her love with grace and wisdom. 

God intentionally made man as he is, knowing the man wouldn’t function well alone. He needed a heart protector. God made woman as she is, knowing woman wouldn’t function well alone. She needed a physical protector.

You may not like this. You may have a bit of a reaction to my differentiating. I am not saying woman can’t lead or provide or care for the earth. I’m not saying men aren’t helpers or clever. I’m saying they are designed to have different functions, because they are different. 

When our perspectives don’t line up with God’s design, it’s not God who is wrong. We have a heart issue with God’s plan, all the time, sometimes, or just now and then. We think we’re better designers than God. We think we have a better version. And that, my friends, is a heart issue.  

What if all our “issues” stem from our heart issues with God? It’s not an issue with our identity, but an issue of our hearts aligning with God’s plan for our image. Let’s find an example.

When a woman looks in the mirror and makes a list of what is wrong with her body that is a heart issue, not an image issue. God gave all women His own image. There is no image issue with us when God sketched, adjusted, created, and loved each woman the way He made her; it’s our hearts and perspectives’ that need to line up with God’s image and mind. Your disgust with your mirror reflection is showing you a heart issue, now an image issue. You are made in God’s image and He said, “It is good.”

You may disagree and say, “I seriously have a weight problem and that’s a body issue!” But that also IS a heart issue. In my life, my weight issues are because I to turn to food for comfort rather than my Heavenly Father. Take that heart to God and talk about your weight as a heart issue, not an image issue. God never made a bad body or a bad image, when he gave us his likeness.

“But my body isn’t anything compared to so-and-so’s!” That is a perspective of lies and comparison fed to us by our souls’ enemy, which affects our hearts enough to cripple us if we let it. It’s a heart issue, not an image issue. God’s image and power is displayed in all men and all women, regardless of any definition of perfection. It is all the issue of our human hearts that thinks otherwise. 

Men and women that try to redefine gender are not dealing with a sexual identity crisis as much as a heart crisis. We have each been given one side of our Creator, Designer, Artist, Author God’s character and image. Male and Female, we are the same and different, all with the same core NEED; an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ to help us with our heart issues. 

We can blame Hollywood, different political agendas, the media, television programming, or social media overloads for all our self-image issues, insecurities and mental problems. OR we can understand we are created and are “burdened with glorious purpose,” and everything boils down to a heart issue before God.

We have His image. We are His design, male and female. We have a commission – GO. He tells us we will have troubles and trials in this life. That’s life. His purpose and storyline for each will be different for each unique man and each talented woman he’s created. He has some specifically female purposes and some specifically male purposes. He has designed the marriage unit to consist of one man and one woman united for life and nothing will ever change that designated plan. If we mess with God’s design, we set our ideals and opinions against God’s plan and we will lose that game in the end. 

We have God’s likeness so our 21^st century issues are not an image issue. It is all an issue of our wayward hearts.