Who told you that you were naked?: What lies are you believing about yourself?

Some time ago, I had a revelation while reading this passage: 

“Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” Genesis 3:11

The question "Who told you that you were naked?" caught my attention, and I kept rereading it over and over. As I sat and pondered that question in my mind, it shifted to, "Who told you that you were unworthy?" "Who told you that you were ugly?" "Who told you you weren't capable?" "Who told you you were a failure?" and so on, hitting at every lie and deception I believed about who I am.

From the beginning, shame was not part of God's design. Shame says, "I am bad." The core of who I am is ugly, bad, or evil. It is a negative self-evaluation. An identity issue.

Adam and Eve hid from the Lord in shame because of their nakedness—nakedness they already shared with God, and one He had declared good in their creation. Their reaction when they perceived they were naked was to sew "...fig leaves together..." and make "...coverings for themselves."

This was a negative evaluation of their nakedness; no longer was their nakedness good, but something to be ashamed of—something to hide and not share. Their nakedness became something they believed they had to withhold from God. It wasn't good enough. It wasn't worthy. So, in their own understanding, they tried to fix it by covering themselves with fig leaves, but even then, it wasn't enough. God killed an animal and covered them with "...garments of skin..." before banishing them from the garden.

The truth is, although they were naked, their nakedness had always been covered by God. God had been their covering. He made complete their weaknesses and inadequacies with Himself. He was their clothing. He was their covering. That was the intimacy they shared—all of Him for all of them.

In eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they rejected God's covering. They rebelled against Him and chose to be their own gods. They didn't understand the weight of what they were choosing when they ate the fruit.

Like all of us, they did not understand the weight of their yeses and nos. We don’t understand how powerful it is to stand firm in the truth of what God has revealed to us, or how strong it is to resist the devil and flee. To reject his lies and deception. How monumental it is to stand in who we are in Christ.

Christ is our gate, our path back into intimacy and fellowship with God. In Christ, God becomes our covering again. What is weak becomes strong, what's unworthy on its own is made worthy once more. What wasn't enough becomes enough. What is lost is found. What was dead is made alive again.

Adam and Eve died; they lost their connection to their only source of life. So was the fate of all humanity until Christ was revealed. A phone without a charger becomes useless. We died.

We lost sight of who we were created to be. We were not built for this world, but for the heavens. We were created to be superheroes on a grand scale. We were created to be image bearers of God. We were created perfect and complete in Jesus.

We were created to be children of God—His family.

We are royalty. We are world-changers. We are overcomers.

You are enough. You are worthy. You are beautiful. You are a good creation!

Like a puzzle piece, we are uniquely crafted with weaknesses and strengths. Each weakness and strength serves a purpose for God. Within each of us, that combination of weaknesses and strengths is good and perfect. The traits you might dislike about yourself were crafted by God.

Maybe you don’t like how you look, but you were designed with this final version in mind. You were crafted with intention.

Maybe you dislike how quiet you are, but even your quietness has a purpose in God.

Maybe you dislike that you were born a boy, but even your gender was part of God's intentional design in you.

You were created with purpose—on purpose.

I am not advocating for sin—anything that goes against God's original design and purpose. You are not your sin. I am advocating for you—the one who is human, imperfectly messy, and perfectly loved.

Each piece of the puzzle plays a role in the full picture, connecting pieces that usually cannot be connected. They act as bridges bringing the whole picture together. No puzzle piece is more important than another, and none less so. Though different, they are equally valuable, regardless of where they are in the puzzle.

So I ask, what lies are you believing about yourself?

Invite God to answer that question, and you will be surprised by what He reveals.

I am on my own journey of discovering who I am. God still tells me I have no idea who I truly am. I am much greater than what I believe. This is just the beginning.