All of us have asked this question during our lives. I was talking to someone about this topic today. I asked them what does it mean to be special? They answered by saying we have a special talent or gift that makes us different from everyone else. I thought that’s a good answer. So often we look for something we do, anything really, that sets us apart from each other. I asked them how do we know if we’re special? They didn’t have an answer to this question.
Most people don’t know. We must be told we’re special in order to know it. Someone at some point in our lives told us this. We tell others something like this “That’s really special you did that” or “You make me feel so special.” Other times we may ask a question like “Would you do something special for(with) me? We often feel we are special because of what we do for others or what they do for us. The problem I see with this is that we must be good enough to be special or we must earn the right to be called special. We must do something to be special.
We spend our entire lives trying to feel special. Singles ask “how can I find that special someone” Others look for that “special job” that would make their life complete. Others look for the “perfect Church”, “perfect group”, or “perfect hobby” to feel special. These are things I looked to help me feel special and they failed me. Why? Because they aren’t capable of making me feel special 24/7/365. They aren’t perfect and can’t handle the weight and pressure of making me feel special. They are all external, or outside, to me.
If external things can’t make me feel special all the time, then what can? I found it in the Gospel. The Gospel is founded on God’s love for us. He loves us because He created us in His own image as Genesis 1:26-27 tell us. He loves us because of what He did, not because of what we did. We are special because He made us, not for what we can do for Him. We are special because even while we were at our worst, Jesus chose to willingly die for us because of His love for us. In God’s eyes we don’t have to earn being special because we already are special. My book goes further into this and explains what is necessary for us to live in relationship with God so we can experience what it means to be special with no strings attached. Check it out!
Gary Ackert, Author 