This voice hates you. Seek the other voice. P.S. this was the only cover I could find that was evenly mildly appropriate!
There are two basically voices in the world that call upon your life. One is love and one is not. I’ll elaborate below.
This morning I was sitting in the car and heard the song “More Beautiful You” by Jonny Diaz (watch the video). These lines brought tears to my eyes, as so many girls I care for are confronted with these lies:
Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn’t straight her body isn’t fake
And she’s always felt overweightWell little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are
That is the call of love. You are beautiful. This is what God says to us, because He made us. But He says a lot more. Look at the difference:
First Voice – The Voice of the World
The first voice is a confused mix. It says “you are good (as in, you are not a sinner) but there’s things you can try to do that are better and you need to try harder“. This is the voice calling from the cover of all those magazines in the grocery checkout isle. They say “you are beautiful, but… you could be more”. Your sex life, your diet, your exercise routines, your relationships, your family… they could be better. And you’ve got to strive for it. Do your “works” to earn entry into the heaven we’re selling you. And hey, we’ve got something to sell you to help you along. There is not much difference between this and pagan idol worship. Actually, there is literally no difference.
Often this is veiled in a voice that sounds positive and encouraging. “You can do it!” It tries to boost up “self-esteem”. Oh how many parents, spouses, teachers, bosses, and politicians proclaim this voice. But this is not the voice of love, because it is a voice of condemnation. It is a voice that tears down. Why? First, it leaves us with the burden of doing something ourselves that we cannot do on our own (because of our sin, see below). Second, it sets an ever increasing standard that is never reached. There is no satisfaction, no end to what we seek. We have a friend who hears this voice calling her to become more beautiful. What started with fashion and makeup became one plastic surgery, which turned into three and into five. But she is never happy. That is a dead path. This voice hates you and is there to trick you.
Second Voice – The Voice of God
This second voice also has an element that seems confusing but is not because it is brutally honest. This voice says: “I made you to be good. I made you in my image. You have value and worth and dignity and beauty. But you tainted all that with your sin“. The first voice would then say “fix yourself”. The second voice – the true voice of love – says “You are totally and utterly helpless. I will help you. I will do it for you; have faith in me“. As it says in the book of Isaiah:
The Lord saw it [our sin], and it displeased him
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him. (Is. 59)
The voice of God is honest and loving, He says: “You are not all right. You are hopeless in your sin. Sin is really bad and it has you. But I will fix you. I will work salvation with my own arm. And now I will see you through Christ, as my beloved, beautiful, perfect sons and daughters. Not because of anything you did, but because of what I did. Trust me.”
How do we echo the Second Voice to people?
In the wonderful book “How People Grow” by Cloud and Townsend, they say “Many people are too soft-hearted; they give encouragement to someone who needs discouragement instead. To encourage a powerless person to try harder is one of the worst things you could possibly do. The best thing you can do is to discourage him from believing that he can do it on his own.” (73) This is totally the opposite of the first voice.
All of us are called to echo this voice to the struggling, hurt, sin-enslaved, lost, broken people in our lives (both believes and not!). What is this voice? The major points:
1) You are made in the image of God. You have value to God. God formed you before you were born and knows every hair on your head! (Gen. 1:26-27, Ps. 139:16, Matt. 10:30, Rom. 1:20)
2) You are a sinner. Your sin is due to your very nature. You cannot try harder, you will fail. Your sin leads to death (including eternal death in hell) and separation from God. (Rom.1:18, Rom. 3:9-18, Rom. 3:23)
3) But God loves you SO much! So much that He sent his son Jesus to die for your sin! Jesus took that sin upon Himself, He paid the penalty and now gives you His righteousness. This is a free gift of grace offered to you! (Rom. 5:6-11)
4) Seek grace! God will help you! Seek Him. Have Faith in Him! God does it! Obey Him! (Rom. 5:1-5, 6:15-23)
5) God will not lead you alone, He dwells in you as His Holy Spirit. Listen to Him! He is with you, guiding you out of sin and into God’s love. (Rom. 8:1-11, Rom. 8:26-30)
6) Love! Yield to the Spirit’s work of guiding you to accept God’s Love, dwell in God’s love, and return that Love back to God and to others. (Rom. 8:35-39, Rom. 12:1-2, Rom. 12:9-21)
7) I and your community (the church or small group or whatever else) are here to help. We are here to encourage you to seek God and be used by God in your life. We are here to extend grace and forgiveness to you. We are here to study God’s Word with you and pray with you. We love you and try to reflect how much God loves you. (Rom. 15:1-2)
(Just FYI: this is the message of the Gospel. :) That’s what God is telling us again and again.)