Week of March 7th
(From Bob Goff’s book Love Does For Kids)
When my sister and I were kids, our parents tracked how tall we were by standing us against a doorframe and drawing little lines over our heads. I always thought I was a little taller than my sister, but she was older than me and proudly pointed out that she was a little taller too.
After my parents marked the doorframe, I would step back eagerly to see if I had caught up with my sister. I was a tall, lanky kid, so I knew I would outgrow her soon. It just never seemed to happen, though.
Finally, the day came when I just knew my little mark on the door would be taller than hers. I stood next to my sister peering down at the top of her head, and I couldn’t wait to see my mark high up on the doorframe. But when I stepped back from the door, I saw my mark was just a little lower than hers. How could that be?! I was sure I had her by an inch at least. It just didn’t make sense. I would have bet all my candy store money that I was taller.
I’m not completely sure why measuring myself against my sister mattered so much to me. We all do it. We measure ourselves against our friends or athletes or the popular kids at school or famous singers. We see how close we are to them.
Are they just an inch better than us? Two inches? God never meant it to be this way. He made each of us to be someone different. He doesn’t want us to measure ourselves against anyone but Him and His extravagant love.
I begged my parents to measure my sister and me just one more time. My sister backed up against the doorframe, and my parents got the pencil out again. This time I noticed something: I saw that she was standing on her tippy toes! For years, she’d been pretending to be an inch taller than she really was.
As I’ve grown up, I’ve noticed that no matter how big or small we are, we all want to feel special and loved and important. Sometimes, we try to look like the best in order to feel those good feelings. We may dress or act a certain way just because other people are doing it.
When we do these things, we’re really just trying to be an inch taller than someone else. Many people live their entire lives on their tippy toes, so to speak, and it can be a pretty exhausting way to live.
As I’ve gotten to know Jesus more, I’ve realized that those things I really wanted—things like love and specialness—are things I already have. You have them too. When Jesus sees you, He already loves you from your head to your toes. You don’t need to stretch up higher on your tippy toes for Him to like you more.
You don’t need to measure yourself against anything or anyone. You don’t have to be taller or smarter or funnier to be loved by
God. You are already loved and accepted, just for being exactly who God made you to be.
