We are made in the image and likeness of God, so if we beat ourselves up then we are beating up that image of God that He has made.
In the Kingdom the Creator formed us, he decided which genes we would receive from the parents He has chosen for us.
Do you wonder about the parents He chose for you and the genes he decided you should inherit? There are times when maybe you feel He made a mistake especially when life has not been that pleasant for you. Or perhaps the genes you inherited, when they are challenging and make life hard.
God created us for a reason, with the parents we had/have, and with the genes we may or may not like. Why?
Perhaps the parable of the talents is our best guide to the answer to this question.
Matt 25:14-15 (NLT)
"Again the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last - dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip."
God determines what he gives us and then allows us to use the money/talents in the way we feel best suited to during our life. Our experience of life right from the moment of conception will depend on our parents example ie the money/talents they were given by God. So you may have a parent(s) who was given five bags of silver and they may have earned five more, thus showing that they were/are capable of great and greater responsibility. Or you may have a parent(s) who were given the two bags of silver and they earned two more, showing that they were capable of handling a small amount and for their efforts were/are given greater responsibilities. But perhaps you were given a parent(s) who was given one bag of silver and they buried it out of fear.
No matter which parents are chosen for us by God our journey is still our own. We still have to decide what we do with the bag or bags of silver that God gives us. This is the crunch of the matter. There comes a time when we have to choose. If our experience has not been a helpful one in our earlier days, we can change that by being merciful and gracious to ourselves. Accepting that our times of trials have made us who we are and deciding that we can still invest in ourselves no matter how many bag(s) of silver we were given.
Remember God made us, he gave us our genealogy. He knows what we are capable of and He is there to make up for all the deficiencies we might have. He knows where we are at and He takes us from there. He reminds us of our talents not our inefficiencies. He wants us to be merciful and gracious to ourselves and not to burden ourselves with what we haven't got. He has given us what He knows we need, five bags, two bags or one bag, it doesn't matter, it is what we do with them that is important. We could have had a rotten start to life, but by believing that you are made in the image and likeness of God opens the door to salvation. Nothing matters up to the point of joining God's side. All of that we have done is forgotten, left at the foot of the Cross. Forgiven and forgotten. When I return to God's Kingdom I hope that I have used all my talents for His honour and glory and He will say "Let's celebrate together."
God bless
