In the first chapter of the Bible, after creating humanity, God’s response is to look upon all that God has made and reflect that “it was very good” – this means including humanity! Notwithstanding the problematic nature of human beings, of you and I, we should never forget this first and fundamental complement when God looked upon humans and thought “very good”.
Many people struggle to accept that there is goodness within themselves. In the West we are in a culture that seems to breed self-hate and self-esteem issues as we compare ourselves to the next person. It is partly because of this that we struggle to hear the complements that come our way from God let alone anyone else.
In this video, from Soul Pancake, the way complements are both given and received impact on people is explored. Given that Christian worship has traditionally revolved around eucharist (thanksgiving) it left me wondering whether or not we clearly hear God’s complements to us, even the simplest and first one “it was very good”, and whether we understand because God first loved (complements), we too love (complement) others and so community is built? How would it change our experience of worship to know that it is not simply us praising, complementing God, but us hearing God’s complement to us again and again and again!