“AS YOU ARE, you are a person approved by God…”

Personally, I think there is a very serious danger in confusing the love of God and the approval of God. I agree that the Love of God is constantly extended to us–it is unimaginably vast and measureless to quote an old song. But in His great love, He still hates sin. When we sin, we are not approved by God. Loved? Absolutely! Always! But why would God approve of our participating in harmful activities? Sacred Scripture teaches us that God’s law was put in place for our own good. God knows that the natural consequences of sin are harmful – even fatal.

Now in this particular situation, I would say that I agree that a fresh look from another perspective would be very helpful. To say, however, that God approves of us all as we are just bc we are made in His image could be very harmful if taken the wrong way.

You are making the assumption that something is awry because you think or feel a certain way. The first thing I urge you to consider is whether the “normal” you are comparing yourself to has any basis in reality. This is where the “expert” comes in. Write down the assumptions that you are comparing yourself to. Take them with you to talk to someone YOU trust to be 1) successful 2) rational. Successful because they have found a way to fit into reality. 2) because many believers see things only through the prism of the poetry of their beliefs. They are not objective.

My concern is that you consider yourself “not normal” because your definition of “normal” is messed up.

AS YOU ARE, you are a person approved by God. You are created in God’s image right now as you are and deserve to love of others. If for some reason, you think that your life is not valuable, the problem might not be in the person you are, but in the way you are thinking.

All beliefs are subject to question. Even ours.