Chidimma || Being Gods Masterpiece
Hey Masterpiece Family! Today I have an interview for you! This month, as our topic was 'Being a Masterpiece of God', I spoke with Chidimma about her personal experience with this topic and what it means to her.
Chidimma is 21 years old law student and owner of hairdressing business @braidsbychichi. She also sings and recently started recording songs which can be found on her Soundcloud (linked below). In addition to this, Chidimma is a YouTuber and covers a range of topics from hair and beauty to walking with Christ. She has a passion for sharing God’s love and prays that someone can be blessed through the content she creates!
What does being Gods Masterpiece mean to you?
A verse that was actually brought to my attention surrounding this topic by the amazing platform which has given me the chance to speak to you guys today- Masterpiece UK, was Ephesians 2:10.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
So the word tells us, in black and white that we are God’s handiwork, we are his masterpiece, he has created us anew so that we can do the good things which he has planned for us.
God took his time with me, he took his time with you, to form his masterpiece. He extended his grace to you, yes you, to be saved and to receive life anew in Jesus Christ so that you can do great works for God.
Being God’s masterpiece is a privilege, a gift, a blessing. To me, knowing that I am God’s masterpiece is mind-blowing honestly. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get my head around it fully. I also think there are different ways you can look at it. So from the Ephesians 2 perspective, we learn that God has formed us as his masterpiece through our renewal in Christ Jesus, our salvation and through us receiving God’s mercy as a result. If we go back and read from verse 4, it’s a lot easier to understand.
“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6 NLT.
We are renewed and made perfect in Jesus, we are made a masterpiece. Another way I believe we can look at it is from the more literal perspective of creation itself. “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). God literally formed us in his image, in his artistic nature he formed us. He made each of us his workmanship. His masterpiece.
To me, this means so much. I feel so blessed to be God’s masterpiece, a chosen daughter of his. I really am just in awe. God purposefully made me? God chose me? He wants me to do things for him? Little old me? It blows my mind. I just feel so privileged and I thank God for loving me so much.
Q2. Was there a particular moment in your faith where you realised you were Gods Masterpiece?
To be honest with you, I don’t think there’s been one particular moment. I definitely believe that the realisation is something which has grown over time and is still growing honestly. My parents have always told me that I am made in God’s image and things like this but I feel like there’s a big difference between knowing from being told and knowing from learning yourself. I can tell you when I started to realise it properly, I think this was probably towards the end of last year if I’m being extremely honest. That might seem late or early, I don’t have a clue but I definitely began to realise last year. It was actually when I was in exam season and when I tell you, at a point I was completely fine and then next minute stress was actually trying to suffocate me. I’ve never had a feeling like it before. I couldn’t sleep, so I called my mum in the middle of the night and she was praying for me and speaking God’s word over me, casting out any fear or doubt with God’s promises. It was at that point that I began to realise, I am actually God’s daughter, he made me with a plan and a purpose, he made me exactly the way he wanted me to be and he made me a masterpiece. The devil really has tried me and still does try to lie to me and rile up old and dead anxieties but he will never win. I thank God that since being saved my eyes have truly been opened and I just pray that as I continue to delve deeper into the word and grow in my relationship with God that this will continue.
Q3. Why is it important to highlight being Gods Masterpiece (How has is bettered your life/faith since knowing)
I think it is absolutely key to highlight being God’s masterpiece, and within that to highlight your identity in Christ. The reason why this is so important is because once you know this, once you know how much God loves you (or begin to understand it), once you realise that you are chosen, specifically and meticulously formed, created to serve a great purpose, the devil can no longer lie to you. I feel like especially in our generation, we suffer a lot from the negative effects of social media, such as comparison, jealousy, not feeling adequate. Don’t get me wrong, I do think that social media can be very beneficial and helpful but it does have its downsides and those are some. As a result of these things, to put it metaphorically it’s as if cracks from and through those cracks the devil can start to infiltrate and lie to us. However, if you know and are firm in your identity in Christ and further able to reaffirm this even on a daily basis, you are secure. This security comes because we know the word of God is true, unchanging and we can stand firm by it.
Personally, knowing that I am God’s masterpiece and his workmanship and being able to remind myself of this has really strengthened me a lot. I can say that I used to suffer a lot from jealousy, feelings of inadequacy, not feeling good enough, lack of confidence and anxiety. God is definitely still doing a work in me and heavily working on my heart, I’m nowhere near perfect. Nevertheless, I can tell you guys that simply from being able to affirm my identity in Christ, as God’s masterpiece, I have been delivered from so many of those feelings. I have honestly become a new person, no longer closed in but free and able to express myself through the gifts that God has given me, with new found confidence that God has given me. So I can definitely say that my life has improved on a human level. I have definitely also noticed a big increase in my faith, to put it simply I have a lot more faith. I think that through learning my identity in Christ there was some kind of chain reaction. As I knew my true self more, I became more fervent in prayer, I started to read my Bible more. So I can definitely say I have seen a difference in my life and in my faith.
Q4. What advice would you give to someone who is struggling to see themselves/ others through Gods eyes?
For somebody struggling to see themselves through God’s eyes I would say, I’ve been there. I can definitely understand how you’re feeling right now. I know that the noise of the world can sometimes really be deafening and it can be hard in the midst of all of that to quieten your mind and hear God. While seeing other people doing various things and just watching the world move you may even question your identity, your purpose. Your thoughts may be racing, you may be feeling overwhelmed but I just want you to stop.
Take a deep breath, relax your shoulders and let us actually go and see what God says about you.
Free of comparison of the world, free of what other people are doing, let us see what God has said from the beginning of time about you,
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4 NLT).
If you click this link here, you will be able to see just that; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mvgzDvEC8XqxDWpeiAeG_9nm3hulNW5w7Y9g5y5Bl_k/edit .
This was something that my mum gave me which has been so helpful to me. Affirmations of my identity In Christ. It may seem like a pointless exercise but I promise you, if you can begin reading these out loud to yourself on your daily basis and believing them (because they are all scripture based and we know God’s word is true), you will begin to fill in those cracks we spoke about earlier. As you affirm your identity and as you speak to any anxiety in your body, any fear in your body and tell it who you really are in Christ, you will begin to see these things leave you. The devil will no longer be able to lie to you once you know who you are.
In addition to this, prayer is extremely important. We are so privileged as Christians to be able to literally speak to God. So speak to your heavenly Father, if you are struggling with your purpose, ask him about it, if you are struggling with feelings of jealousy tell him about it and ask for your heart to be softened and changed, and also pray for those you feel jealous of that they will continue to succeed in their endeavours.
I would also say read your Bible. If you don’t already, it's very important to read your Bible on a daily basis and be renewed every single day, learn every single day and know God more every single day. If you’re beginning to read your Bible I would suggest starting with the Gospels as you’ll be able to get a great idea of who Jesus was, what he did for us and understand the magnitude of God’s love in sending him. This will definitely be beneficial as it will allow you to start to understand the way God sees you in different light, not just as his masterpiece, but as his child who he loves.
For somebody who is struggling to see others through God’s eyes I would first of all say that prayer is so so key. In today’s culture we are very quick to judge, quick to ’cancel’, but as I’ve seen people tweet- God hasn’t cancelled us. As such, we shouldn’t be so quick to ‘cancel' others. I would highly suggest praying for a change in your heart, for your heart to be softened. I often pray these prayers. I would also suggest praying for a more childlike outlook, because children are so much more quick to forgive and accept people than us as adults and young adults. I know that there are definitely situations in which it is incredibly difficult to forgive and it is definitely a process, but the best way to start that process is prayer. To begin seeing people more as God sees them, the change has to start with you.
Q5. What Bible Scriptures do you like to refer to, to remind yourself of who you are in Christ?
Some of my favourite Bible scriptures to remind myself of who I am in Christ are these:
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14 NLT
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10 NLT
“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 NLT
“So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.” Colossians 2:10 NLT
These scriptures really are so helpful to me, I definitely pull out at least one of these any time I need to check myself or an ounce of doubt begins to creep into my mind. I’d highly suggest finding three or four scriptures that you can quickly read or recite in similar situations!
Connect with Chidimma:
Instagram & Twitter: @ChidimmaLDN
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/chidimmaldn
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/chidimmaldn/tracks