You Are Not Damaged Good

I have always thought of damaged goods as items that are broken, incomplete or malfunctioning returned by customers or tossed by the store. That was until I saw it being used as description for people. What!

I even found it in the dictionary referring to people, how be it as an informal term. I had no idea.

What Is Damaged Good?

According to Britannica Dictionary: A damaged good can refer to: a person who is considered to be no longer desirable or valuable because of something that has happened: a person whose reputation is damaged.

My Experience Of A damaged Good

Recently I was in a store to pick up building blocks for our kids’ ministry and found one I really liked. The blocks were large and posed little or no choke hazards.
It was the only one of that kind left and upon closer look I saw it was damaged…. Well not the blocks themselves, but the box that contained them. A couple of the clear bags that held some pieces were also ripped but the blocks were okay. I picked it up and started looking for a staff who could help me find out if they had more in stock. I was hopeful that I would not have to buy the one I had in hand because I considered it damaged. When the staff scanned the box and told me it was the only one left, I told myself I would try at the till to see if the response would be different. I also thought that if I count the pieces and find none broken or missing, I would go ahead and buy the Lego.

If you guessed I didn’t get a different response, you guessed right. The cashier and I counted the pieces to make sure they were neither broken or incomplete. When I made sure, I went ahead and purchased it. And we are enjoying it at The Church’s’ kids department.

Do You See Yourself As Damaged Good?

Some single people consciously or unconsciously consider themselves damaged goods because of a past that left them divorced, single parents, victims of rape or abuse. Some others think that because of a physical disability, they are damaged and no good. No one would truly love them for marriage.
Others may lose whatever self-worth they have left as a result of society or family labels.

Now, if you think yourself as “no good” or “not good enough” you most certainly need to have a serious rethink. Especially as a child of God, you should not see yourself any less than God sees you. The One who made you; your Creator and your Father sees you as complete.

See Yourself As God Sees You

The moment you make the adjustment in your mind, and focus on what God thinks of you and how He sees you, you will be on the path to meeting that lady or man who will love you enough to marry you because of your content much less than your past, looks, or flaws.

Beauty means different things to different people. When someone with the “right set of eyes’ sees you, they will see beyond your past, looks or flaws. You will mean the world to them so much that living without you will not be a consideration.
But first, you must see yourself the way God sees you. Complete in Him.

Encouraging Examples Of Damaged Goods

There are several stories in the Bible of people who our present world would have considered damaged goods. Not only did God see and treat them differently, He also graced them to fulfil their great destinies.

1. Moses

Take Moses for instance, he took laws into his own hands, murdered a man, and ran for his life. He got married on exile and despite the fact that he jumped ahead of God and murdered the Egyptian, God still used him to fulfil purpose as a prophet for the deliverance of God’s people from Pharoah and the Egyptians’ bondage.

Exodus 2:11-21 NKJV
¹¹ Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. ¹² So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”
¹⁴ Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from ^[b]the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to Reuel^[c] their father, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?” ¹⁹ And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.” ²⁰ So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” ²¹ Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. ²² And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom,^[d] for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”

Exodus 14:13-30 NKJV
¹³ And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation^[b] of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold^[c] your peace.” ¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” ¹⁹ And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. ²⁰ So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. ²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ²³ And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He ^[d]troubled the army of the Egyptians. ²⁵ And He ^[e]took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” ²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew^[f] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained. ²⁹ But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. ³⁰ So the Lord saved^[g] Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Thus Israel saw the great ^[h]work which the Lord had done in Egypt; so the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and His servant Moses.

2. Rahab

And what about Rahab? A well-known prostitute. She was not only saved from the destruction that befell Jericho, she went on to marry Salmon of the Tribe of Judah and became the ancestress not only of David the king but of Jesus the Messiah.

Ruth 4:18-22 NKJV
¹⁸ Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; ¹⁹ Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; ²⁰ Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;^[a] 21 Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; ²² Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

Matthew 1:3-16 NKJV
⁵ Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, ⁶ and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her ^[a]who had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷ Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot ^[b]Asa. ⁸ Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. ⁹ Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. ¹⁰ Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot ^[c]Amon, and Amon begot Josiah. ¹¹ Josiah begot ^[d]Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. ¹² And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shealtiel, and Shealtiel begot Zerubbabel. ¹³ Zerubbabel begot Abiud, Abiud begot Eliakim, and Eliakim begot Azor. ¹⁴ Azor begot Zadok, Zadok begot Achim, and Achim begot Eliud. ¹⁵ Eliud begot Eleazar, Eleazar begot Matthan, and Matthan begot Jacob. ¹⁶ And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

God’s Thoughts Of You

There is something every one of us believers have to come to terms with. God does not see us like the world does. The way He sees us is written In His word.

Forgiven: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NKJV

Accepted and Beloved: to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He ^[a]made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:6 NKJV

Complete: and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all ^[a]principality and power. Colossians 2:10 NKJV

His children: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 NKJV

Wonderful, Marvelous, Beautiful: Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Psalm 139:14 NLT

These are just a few of the many beautiful ways God sees us; in spite of our history, birth circumstances, physical state, He loves and see us as His beloved, complete, beautiful children.
When you see yourself in the light of God’s word rather than the whispers of the devil and the world. You will open the doors to receiving the blessed wife or husband God as prepared for you.

When you give yourself to Christ, you are made whole from the inside. And as you continue in fellowship with Him, He makes a brand new you.

No, you are not damaged good. You are complete; nothing missing, nothing broken. God has made you whole! Hallelujah!