When her beautiful brown skin started losing its color, a young woman felt frightened, as if she were disappearing or losing her “self.” With heavy makeup, she covered up “my spots,” as she called them—patches of lighter skin caused by a condition called vitiligo. It’s a loss of skin pigment, melanin, which gives skin its tone.
Then one day, she asked herself: Why hide? Relying on God’s strength to accept herself, she stopped wearing heavy makeup. Soon she began gaining attention for her self-confidence. Eventually she became the first spokesmodel with vitiligo for a global cosmetics brand.
“It’s such a blessing,” she told a TV news host, adding that her faith, family, and friends are the ways she finds encouragement.
This woman’s story invites us to remember that we each are created in God’s image. “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). No matter what we look like on the outside, all of us are image-bearers of God. As His created persons, we reflect His glory; and as believers in Jesus we are being transformed to represent Him in the world.
Do you struggle to love the skin you’re in? Today, look in the mirror and smile for God. He created you in His image.
What’s more important to you—how people see you or if they see God in you? What are ways you can represent His image to others?
INSIGHT
Today’s reading contains two significant ideas. First, humanity is set apart from all other living creatures because we’re made in the image of God. Second, our first God-given assignment was to rule over creation (Genesis 1:26). There’s been much debate over what constitutes being made in God’s image. It may refer to intellect, morality, or spirituality. But what’s interesting is the phrase “so that they may rule over [all other creatures]” (v. 26). Being made in God’s image enables us to fulfill our task to rule over the rest of creation.
To learn more about the Old Testament, visit christianuniversity.org/OT128.