The things you collect, your job, your money - they don't define you. Your pain, your mistakes, your failures - they don't define you. Your family, your race, your social standing - they don't define you. Your religion doesn't even define you. The thing is, under all that stuff is the real you. Some people live their entire life and never find the real person inside. I used to be someone who couldn't look in the mirror for longer than 3 seconds due to the immense pain, rejection and complete lack of self worth I had for myself. The hatred I had for myself was so, so deep and beyond compare. Constantly I would hear voices that echoed "you're a failure, a mistake, you're useless, you'll never ever amount to anything..." But one day my world collided with the Creator of the Universe and He silenced every single voice and brought peace to my broken world. Now there's only one voice. Often He's quiet but when He speaks He's always reassuring, guiding and strong. He has the strength of ten thousand whirlwinds yet He whispers to me just what I need to hear. He is my strength, my peace, my serenity. No matter what happens around me, I can never ever lose Him and I'm never alone. He helped me to see who I really was. He found me in there under layers of lies and pain. So no matter who you think you are or what you've done - you're worth more than you know. Jesus eyes see far beyond all those things and see only the real you. He wants to help unlock the real you, the best part of you, and it can only be truly found through Him. Jesus did this for a man that was a container for thousands of demons in Mark chapter 5. He saw the real man beyond the screaming rabble of evil and set him free. He also helped a woman in John chapter 4 that was seeking love but hadn't find it in the 5 previous relationships she had. Jesus has never stopped doing that for people. Finding them. You see, that's what a good shepherd does.
