It’s my joy to introduce you to an authentic Christian, a woman’s who’s real in her relationship with Jesus and people. Suzanne Eller (Suzie) happens to be a writing mentor with COMPEL, the Christian writer’s training branch of Proverbs 31 Ministries. I consider her my own mentor as well. I hope your faith is bolstered through these beautiful words Suzie shares with us today. ~ Kristi

Dime-Store Girl

by Suzie Eller

I’m a dime-store girl at heart.

I love finding something at a good price. If I can spend half for something similar or off-brand, I’m tempted to choose the less expensive version every time.

That’s why I almost want to hide my skin care products if you walk into my bathroom. They are costly, and there is no option to pay less than full price.

For years I struggled with skin issues. As a young girl, doctors had my mom pour liquid coal tar on my skin and wrap me in Saran Wrap to help with psoriasis. My sister and I shared a bed. There were many nights she wanted to throw me out of the bed, because I made crinkling noises with every move. I also smelled like coal tar.

I learned to hide my skin issues, which meant that I didn’t go swimming, but wore long sleeves when everyone else was splashing in the pool.

When I was an adult, I was diagnosed with rosacea, which produced redness on my nose and cheeks.

All I could think was, seriously? Two serious skin issues? I felt like a dermatologist’s dream.

Much like the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8, I went from doctor after doctor. Nothing worked. I tried elimination diets. I tried different products. I took medicines that had tons of side effects, and tried to ignore warnings on the label that made my stomach turn.

Then one day I tried something that a friend suggested, and it worked. I was shocked, because nothing ever had. I eventually I threw away most of my medicines, and stopped trying to hide all my skin issues under cover-up makeup.

The first time someone said, “Hey, you have really great skin,” I looked around to see who she was talking to. Because I had never heard those words – not one time, in my entire life.

What does this have to do with anything, Suzie?

For months, even though I could see the difference, I struggled to pay the price for the very thing that was helping me. My dime-store mentality told me there had to be something somewhere equivalent that required less investment on my part.

Sometimes we do the same with a gift that Jesus offers us. He said He came to heal the broken hearted. He said He would break chains that we couldn’t break on our own. He knelt with women who felt abandoned and ashamed, and called them “sister,” when everyone else called them broken and unclean.

Jesus paid the price for all of this.

Yet we often shrug it off. After all, it’s too costly. To receive this, we have to believe that we are loved. That Jesus sees something inside of us that we might not yet. That He is big enough to overcome and heal what we cannot on our own.

There’s the investment Jesus made, but there’s a cost for us as well. He asks that we do the hard work, with His help. That might lead to hard paths like forgiveness, or fear as he asks us to climb out of a comfort zone.

A dime-store mentality is great when bargaining (and I love a great bargain!) but not so great as we follow Jesus.

We exchange his gifts for lesser substitutes like comparison. We hold on to the old, because we aren’t sure if we are worthy of the new. We see ourselves as damaged, when Jesus promised to make us whole. We set ourselves up for failure with impossible expectations, and beat ourselves up when we don’t meet them – even as Jesus holds out forgiveness, growth through our mistakes, and relationship with Him as we walk with him day by day.

I’ve been a believer for a long time, and I’ve finally realized that Jesus doesn’t want us to live with anything less than what he offers. We don’t have to cover up anything, but hold it up to him. He sees the surface stuff. He sees what everybody else has pointed out, or that we’ve tried to hide. He sees the cheaper substitutes that leave us unfulfilled and still a bit broken, or the easier route that we’d like to take when He’s offering purpose and destiny.

Jesus invites us to real change. The kind that is transforming, and will never have a substitute.

That invitation for real change is for each of us. We may be holding up a situation, a person, a feeling, an outward reflection of an inward issue, but He’s looking so much deeper.

He sees each of us, and he’s offering a gift of the highest value. When we say yes to that invitation, real change begins and it’s worth it.

“Don’t just ask me to change your situation, invite me to change you. ~Jesus” @SuzanneEller Click To Tweet

About Suzie ~

Suzanne Eller (Suzie) has served Proverbs 31 Ministries for 10 years. She’s an author, international speaker and Bible teacher, top 100 Christian women’s blogger, and popular media guest. She loves nothing more than watching God work in the heart of a woman.

Connect with Suzie at her blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Suzie’s publisher is giving one KristiWoods.net reader a FREE COPY of her new Come With Me Devotional. Comment below for 1 entry. Share on social media (and comment below to let us know) for 1 entry. Contest open to US adult residents only, please. Contest deadline is Sunday, Oct. 8 at midnight, central time. The winner will be notified on Tuesday’s post, and if you connect an email address, we’ll be certain to email the winner as well.  Learn more about the Come with Me Devotional here.

I entered the #giveaway for the Come With Me Devotional by @SuzanneEller. Have you entered? #comewithmedevo Click To Tweet

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