In Gods Image

So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1: 27 NKJV

Our self image can have a huge effect on our lives.   For many years I've struggled with weight issues, and this has had a huge effect on how I view myself.  My view of myself was not based on how God saw me, but on how the world viewed me.  As a result, I usualy ended up with very low self esteem.  This snoballed into isolating myself as well as weight and fitness issues.  It's a vicious cycle, realy, the more I thought others were looking down on me due to my physical appearance, the more I would turn to food and isolation for comfort.  You see, when you're alone, there's nobody there to look down on you.  Never once did I attempt to see myself as God saw me.  Better yet, I was imposing my negative views of myself on others.   I knew I was out of shape, so I just assumed that others saw me this way as well.  As a result, I isolated myself from others to avoid being hurt.  Of course, I'm sure I shut the door on more than a few potential friendships as well.  Hermits don't have too many friends.  Now, did others see me as negatively as I saw myself?  In my mind they did.  I had seen so many times where others had hurt me that it was easier for me to avoid being hurt altogether.  Yeah, that didn't work out too well either.   Long story short, my isolation  and physical condition eventualy led to a pretty serious knee injury.
This would have been a serious dead end for me had it not been for a few Godly friends who didn't give up on me like I'd given up on myself so long ago.  Whether these guys saw me as God viewed me or not,  they were a blessing in my life when I needed them the most.  I remember my friend Kevin refering a video titled "Gods Chisel" to me.  Now, I would definately recomend this video to anyone with ANY concerns on how their creator sees them.  In Genesis we are told that God created us in HIS own image, in Gods image he created each and every one of us, not just christians...EVERYONE.   Think about it, the entire world is populated with people that God created.  Consider that the next time you get angry with your neighbor.   Now, my self image issues aren't totaly cured, that's a work in progress.  One thing I have learned, I am Gods child created in his image!

~Scott~

Thank you for your friendship and guidance...
Dennis Deardorff
David Fulton
Kevin Janisse
Chuck Goldberg