"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." Ps. 139:14

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10

I was sitting at a table with a group of people when one man made a negative comment about himself, then turned to me and said, "You didn't know God made junk did you?"

I told him God didn't make junk, the man wasn't junk, and I that I liked him.

My husband and I both like this man. He's a sweet man who's had a difficult life. About 3 and a half years ago, this man came to know God, but discouragement has made his Christian walk difficult for him. Even though he was joking when he made that comment to me, I suspect it is how he really feels about himself. He's a compassionate person and most helpful when you're in need, but all he sees are his failures.

God doesn’t make junk. This man isn’t junk and neither are you or I. We are all wonderfully made. And we were made for good works, or as the Living Bible says, “that we should spend these lives in helping others.”

It’s easy to look at our mistakes and think that we’re useless to God. But no life is so messed up that it can’t be restored into a beautiful life which will bring help to others and glory to God. I’ve made many very bad choices in my life, but each time I looked up to my Father in Heaven and He reached down, picked me up, cleaned up the dirt and set me on my feet again. Once God is given permission to take over, He makes us a new person. When we ask for forgiveness for our sins, God forgives us and blots them out and forgets them. (Isa. 43:25) If He forgets them, then we don’t have the right to remind ourselves and hit ourselves over the head with them. Neither does anyone else have the right to keep throwing them in your face. The sins are gone and forgotten!

No, none of us are junk. We’re all very useful and loved by God. He is such a personal God that He knows how many hairs each of us have. (Luke 12:7) You and I are very important to Him.

God loves us. We are His children. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God!” 1John 3:2

For more on this topic:
Wonderfully Made
He Will Finish the Work in You
No One is Too Anything
Serving God in Our Own Way