The Freedom to Be Whom God Created Me to Be

“So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 NLT

There were many times in the past when I attended church with the sole purpose of gathering with co-believers, worshiping, praying, praising and getting to know God better, only to be disappointed by the way I was perceived. I would enter a church and the spotlight would fall on me; people would to stare at me as if I was “someone with something wrong” that needs fixing. The way in which I was received and perceived made me feel isolated and alienated, as a “wrong” type of human being, resulting in me refraining from going back to church when the miracle of “fixing” me failed to happen.

I am an individual, young woman, with a physical disability and I make use of a wheelchair for mobility. It has been my experience in the past that I would be perceived as an” instrument” to demonstrate miracles whenever I went to church. Please dear reader do not understand me wrong, I do believe in miracles, but for me the greatest miracle goes far beyond the physical. For me a miracle is when a sinner repents from his or her wrong ways, accepts Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and strives to live according to God’s will.

In John 9:2, the disciples of Jesus asked him: “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

The aforementioned verse illustrates how other people perceive persons with impairments or disabilities. They view them as sinners who did something wrong and are thus punished through having a disability. Jesus himself, however, answered them and challenged their thinking by dispelling their beliefs about disability in verse three:

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”

My intention with writing this is not to discriminate against churches or fellow Christians, but to challenge the way in which we as human beings perceive each other. We are all created by one God and he has created us in HIS OWN IMAGE. In my understanding, when the Bible refers to “His image”, it’s referring to God’s spirit; the spirit that he has blown in each and every one of us to make us human and the spirit that needs to be nurtured by the fruits of the spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

I feel it necessary for the church’s focus to be more on healing all people spiritually instead of focusing on our finite bodies. In the “Valley of dry bones” found in Ezekiel 37, it is evident that bones in the body are nothing without spirit in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”Ezekiel 37:4-6

My argument is this: you may heal a disabled body, but that doesn’t guarantee that the individual will become a believer. Focus your efforts on sharing the gospel and loving different people as God commands us. Tell them who Jesus is and how he can change lives. Tell them that Jesus loves them and even died for their sins so that they can have life and live because he rose again.

As Christians, may we love, respect and embrace each other’s differences just like Jesus does and may we focus on building each other up and encouraging each other to persevere in prayer during good and bad times. May we invite and accept people with disabilities into our churches and look beyond their appearance to recognize the person.

“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

I finally found a place of worship where I am accepted just as I am, a place where I can be who God created me to be. My physical challenge does not make me less of a human or less of a Christian. Jesus does heal, but His healing is different for each and every one of us.