This morning on my favorite radio show, they were all participating in a beauty contest of sorts. It had to do with an iphone app that rated you on physical appearance on a scale from 1-10.

That reminded me of a time at band camp. A girl had a notebook in which she rated all the guys from 1-10. It got confiscated by one of the guys, who proceeded to read the list out loud.

I remember thinking something like, “Please don’t let it be a negative number. Anything but a negative number.”

I think my rating was a 5 or a 6.

How do you rate yourself? Probably if you’re like most people you will probably rate yourself too low. After all, you’re the one who sees that reflection staring back at 5  in the morning after 3 hours of sleep.

You probably have a list of things you wish you could change about your appearance. You may not even like the way you look and mirrors may be something you avoid like the bubonic plague.

But God thinks you’re a 10. Honest. For three reasons.

1) He created you with His own hands exactly the way He wanted you to be. You are His masterpiece.

2) He bought you back with the highest price possible– the life of His own dear Son. He didn’t consider even that too high a price to pay for you.

3) When He sees you, He sees the finished product of what you will be. He sees Jesus in you and is very pleased.

He doesn’t just love the Final you. He loves the Work-in-Progress you. He loves the you that feels invisible sometimes, the you that screws up a lot and says the wrong thing too many times.

You may not think much of you, but God does. He thinks you’re beautiful and dazzling and radiant.

He still thinks you’re to die for.