Someone once told me, half-jokingly, "Boys are trash. Boys in church are just saved trash."
And I know he meant well. He meant to be careful and not just give yourself away to the first joker who catches your eye, because not everyone has your best interests at heart. Not every guy will love and cherish you and protect you. Some guys really are scum-filled.
But people are not trash. People are broken, but they are not trash. People are twisted and filled with trash, but they themselves are not trash.
We have an epidemic of human beings who walk around believing that they are worthless, stupid, replaceable, alone, dirt-filled, irredeemable messes. They're looking for something to fill this void inside of them, but what they fill that emptiness with only seems to make them feel worse. It makes the feeling go away for a while, sure, but after the high's gone, the book's been read, the TV show's completed, the work's done, the relationship's over, you're just left with... what? Maybe some memories. Probably some regrets. And they just keep going, looking for something deeper, looking for something that'll last, something eternal.
But they're not worth that, they think, so they settle. They settle for that abusive relationship. They settle for a job they absolutely hate and don't bother to keep looking and trying. They settle for less than. They settle for a temporary solution. Or worse, they choose a permanent solution for a temporary problem.
People are not trash. People are precious. Every single human being, no matter what they've done, who their family is, what color their skin is, what they believe, they are precious. What's the point of gaining the entire world if you lose your soul? Your soul is way more valuable than this entire world. Why would the God who created everything come down, put on this tiny, vulnerable body of flesh, and subject Himself to even death, if He didn't think you were worth it?
Jesus does not lie. He loves you. He says you are worth it. He says you are precious to Him. He says, "I love the broken pieces that make up you." He says, "I'll fix you, but you gotta be willing to hand over your brokenness." And you know the crazy thing? He does it. He fixes it. He makes it new. The things that you never had, the people who were supposed to love you and instead threw you away because they thought you were trash, none of it matters anymore because the God who created everything says, "I love you and I want you."
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
People have called you trash. They've called you worthless. They've beaten and broken you. They've hurt you and made you into something that no human should ever be. The pain of your life and the mess you've had to deal with is insane.
But there is hope, and His name is Jesus. He'll restore the things you've lost. He'll heal the wounds that've been inflicted on your body and your mind. He'll make right what's wrong. He'll give you the strength that you need to overcome your past and your present, and He'll change your future for the better. He's able to give you abundantly, exceedingly, above all that you could ever ask or think.
All you gotta do is let Him.
There's gonna be some pain involved. When a bone breaks and heals wrong, you gotta break it again so that it'll heal right. It hurts to open up and be vulnerable, but trust me, God's not gonna make you hurt just to hurt, He does it to get it out and make it better. You're gonna have to cut off some things, cut out some things, and live in a way that your old self is gonna hate, but when you become a child of God, old things are passed away, all things become new, and if anybody is dead in Christ, it makes them a new creature. You're gonna be new, you gotta act like you're new. Your old life was filled with hate, your new life is gonna be filled with love. You gotta choose it every day, to walk in that newness of life, but dude, you and I both know that your hardest day with God is better than your best day without Him.
Sometimes, you gotta clean and scrape the grit off of something in order to make it shine. You're worth more than gold. He'll take what was once called trash and show the world what a treasure it really is. You're special, you're chosen, you're called, you've got one crazy destiny, kid. :) You're not trash, you're a treasure.
Love you guys. Have a great week. :)
--Sonya :) <3
