You Are Special

Today's Devotional was written by our new Youth Director, Addison Andrix

One of the greatest children’s stories of all time, "You are Special by Max Luxcado takes place in a village of wooden people called Wemmicks. They spend their days giving each other gold stars and grey dots. The gold stars are for positive traits like being talented or good-looking, and gray dots for negative traits like making mistakes or looking different. One Wemmick, Punchinello, receives countless gray dots. Leading him to question his worth.
 
One day Punchinello visits his creator, Eli, who explains that the stickers only matter if Punchinello lets them matter. Eli doesn’t judge him by stars or dots. He values Punchinello simply because he made him. As Punchinello begins to believe Eli, the stickers start to fall off, showing that self-worth comes from being loved and accepted by the Creator, not from others’ opinions.

In a world that tells us we are not doing enough and that we will never be enough it is ever more important to be like Punchinello. When we are struggling to remember our self-worth, we need to talk to God and remember we are made beautifully in God’s image.
 
You are special the way God made you. You don't need to change to fit the standards of this world because none of those matters. You are special because you were beautifully and wonderfully made by an ever-loving God. Always remember, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7).

Please pray with me. Ever loving God, thank you for making us uniquely beautiful in your image. Please be with us and those close to us when we put too much focus on the shiny stars and grey dots. Lord thank you for setting us free to be who you created us to be. Amen