“I am the rose of Sharon, The lily of the valleys.” 
—Song of Songs 2:1, NASB

Reflection 

I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valleys. Does this sound strange to you? Do you ever verbally affirm your own beauty to God? To some, maybe to you, this is a foreign concept. You would not think of praising yourself with words of affirmation, perhaps because it strikes you as prideful, or maybe you simply do not believe in your own loveliness to God. 

Yet speaking God’s perspective of things out loud is one of the most powerful and important things we can do. It is also one of the greatest ways to come into our true identity. We need to break Satan’s shame and guilt from our lives, and words act like a sledgehammer, breaking up false ideas and strongholds of lies. 

We are the children of a beautiful God. John said, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.” The statement about being the rose of Sharon, the flower of love, invites us likewise to say of ourselves: I am beautiful and attractive to God, just like the very best things He has made in creation. I look good. I smell good. He likes me. 

But the Scripture also mentions the lily, a flower that represents purity and obedience. This is why we say something is lily white. In our day the standard for purity is quite polluted. We live in a world where Satan tells Christians it is okay to live in immorality and compromise. Everybody else is doing it, he says. It is just a normal part of today’s society. 

Speaking of this delusion, God’s Word says that when people measure themselves by themselves, they are without understanding. The world is rife with impurity and defilement, especially in relation to sexual sin. But God’s standard has not changed with a changing world. 

God’s Word teaches that sexual sin is closely connected to the inner man. It is actually more defiling than other sins. Paul wrote, “Flee immorality.” He reminds us that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, that we are not our own, and that we have been bought with a price. Therefore, we are to glorify God in our body. 

Jesus calls you and me to be lilies, to live in sexual purity. If you are not living in sexual purity, recognize how serious a matter this is. Your Lord is a jealous God and will not share you with another. If you persist in impurity as a child of God, He will discipline you, and it may cost you much. It will hurt. He is not rejecting you. He disciplines us to correct us because He loves us. It is a rescue operation. 

None of us can enter the depths of knowing God without repenting. If you are living in disobedience, your relationship with Yeshua lacks depth. Repent from sin and turn to Him. Confess to Him that by His strength you will live as a lily of the valley. It does not matter what the world does. It does not matter what the world says. You have been called to be a pure and undefiled bride to Him. 

Application 

• Speak God’s perspective over your life today: I am beautiful and attractive to God, and I am His beloved child. 

• Examine your heart before the Father, repent from compromise, and ask Yeshua for strength to live as a lily of the valley. 

Prayer 

Father, break Satan’s shame and guilt from my life. Teach me to speak Your perspective over myself and come into my true identity as Your child. Yeshua, make me pure and obedient before You. I repent from compromise and turn to You with my whole heart. By Your strength, help me live as a lily of the valley, a pure and undefiled bride to You. Amen.