From the mouth of a child

I just love being a mom! It is so amazing how God chooses to reveal essential truths to us through our children.

The other day as we were driving in the car (this seems to be a great place for conversation) My four year old daughter asked a funny yet profound question.

"Mommy, if God lives inside you, if you hug yourself are you hugging God?" This certainly gave me some food for thought. Though I was amused by the question, I found it a bit hard to answer.

"Well honey, I guess you could look at it that way." I answered. I then proceeded to talk to her and my older daughter about how we were all created in God's image and when He lives in our hearts, it causes us to live our lives as a reflection of His love. We also talked about valuing ourselves in the way that God values us. With that line of thinking, what my daughter said is quite true. When you hug yourself, you are hugging the image of God. When we love ourselves the way that God loves us, we glorify Him. When we extend that same love to others, we bring His love to them.

The word tells us in Genesis 1:27:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

His love abides in us and makes us anew:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

So next time that you are feeling down, remember that the one true saviour lives inside of you. Give yourself a comforting hug, because as my four year old pointed out, "When you hug yourself you are hugging (the image of) God."