The Mona Lisa is a piece of art work that is known to be priceless - there is no value that can be put on her. When Leonardo Da Vinci created this painting, he didn’t realize the end result of it becoming a masterpiece that would be labelled as priceless.
Well, just as Da Vinci created something, so has God. The difference is that He knew what He was doing. He created us as a masterpiece from the get-go. We were already priceless before we even became flesh. Girls, we are God’s masterpiece. He knew what He was doing when you were formed in your mother’s womb. The plans for you were already laid out over thousands of years ago.
I wanna talk to you young girls in our society today. Many of you have been molested, raped, sexually active, or have thought of being sexually active in your thoughts and haven’t actually taken it to that next step. Then there are those who are reading this blog that have decided to make a stance in waiting for their “love of my life”.
Here in Enid, OK we used to run this teen center called the 180 Teen Center. This building had to be somewhat gutted and refurbished before we could actually open the doors to function as the teen center. One thing that was in dire need of help was the whole bottom floor. It was covered with laminate tiles that were old and needed to come up. It was hard work and to our discovering it had beautiful wood flooring underneath - but we wouldn’t have known that just by looking at it with the tiles on it. The floor was grimy, beaten up, chipped - it was nothing to look at and say “welcome to the 180”. The floor was very ugly. There was many layers on top of great beauty.
It was amazing in years past what others thought would make the floor more attractive. I say that to say this - the same is true in each and everyone one of our lives. We say the same thing. We were all made a masterpiece, but we have or are covering up beauty by all of the layers of “being experienced - that’ll make me attractive”, “being easy - that’ll make me attractive”, “not being modestly dressed - that’ll make me attractive”. It is very interesting what we try to pile up on what God has created as “already attractive”. By layering more things onto “us” we are taking away the beauty that God has created in us. We so often try to be like other people because we think that they are so much prettier or smarter or cooler than we are. Each one of us girls has been made with a uniqueness that no one else has. God says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned…” Each one of us - yes, YOU - has been made God’s masterpiece - His Mona Lisa.
We humans have this deep need of - “See Me!!” - the need for acceptance. We want to know that we are important, that we do mean something and we are here for a purpose. We girls can do crazy things to get attention drawn to us for acceptance. We are sometimes like the prairie grass out in the pasture. When the wind blows, the grass just bends so easily to the wind. Just like the prairie grass, we girls can be the same in so easily bending to the world’s morals. You find yourself doing the same things as the world does. Cussing, drinking, being sexually active, going to movies that you have no place in, etc. The world’s morals are so loud in you that you can’t seem to hear that still small voice of God saying - “Sweetheart, I love you, don’t lower yourself to mediocrity.” How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as beautiful, amazing, talented - a masterpiece created by the best creator of all time? The reality really is we see ourselves as ugly, different, less than, rejected! So I ask this question again - How do you see yourself? Just remember, the way you see yourself affects everything around you. If you don’t value yourself - neither will others. It will cause you to be abused in some way or another. We all have this ‘inner price tag’ that we put on ourselves that says how much we think we are worth. Whatever that value is set at is what people will treat you as. Set your value as high, because your value is priceless.
Here are some things that we allow to define us:
Genetics: I’m this way because this is how my mom is…
Psychological: My parents rejected me, I can’t trust people. Or maybe my father abused me. I can’t help the way that I am because of what happened to me.
Environmental: How much nice stuff you have or don’t have, the car you drive, etc. We limit ourselves because of these things. Only you have the power to limit you and who you are.
Psalm 139:13 says, “Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb.” So who cares about the barbie looking girls - driving the nice cars with their hot boyfriends inside? Girls, God new what He was doing when He made you. God doesn’t make junk. He can’t make junk - it’s not in His nature. “And so I insist - and God backs me up on this - that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself. They can’t think straight anymore. Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.” Ephesians 4:17-19. When you go along with the crowd for so long searching for acceptance, you become seared. You no longer make right choices - you get so caught up in what the world says is okay - sexual immorality, perversion, etc. We become heavy-laden with guilt, which leads to shame. God says, that sorrow works with repentance, but the world’s sorrow works with death. Another words, Godly sorrow hates the sin, but worldly sorrow hates yourself for sinning. We are to hate sin not ourselves. We are to be like Peter was in the Bible when he sinned. He repented with tears, but Judas hated himself to death.
Here’s two scriptures to leave with you:
Psalm 32:5, “So I confessed my sins and told them all to you. I said, I’ll tell the Lord each one of my sins. Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.”
2 Corinthians 5:5, “He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.”
Below is a video link to Mirror-Mirror by Barlow Girl that we showed to our youth girls after this message that was taught by our very own Pastor Tamy Mendenhall.
Mirror, Mirror by Barlow Girl
Thank you for this time of sharing - You are a Masterpiece!!
Kimmer Mussman