Abraham Was A God-Made Man | Victoria Osteen

Summary

---

Joel Osteen Podcast

Episode Summary: "Abraham Was A God-Made Man" | Victoria Osteen

Date: September 6, 2025
Host: Victoria Osteen (with Joel Osteen intro & close)
Podcast Theme:
In this episode, Victoria Osteen explores the idea of being a "God-made" person, using the story of Abraham as a blueprint. She encourages listeners to embrace God's mentoring and transformative hand in their lives, highlighting faith, progress, and the assurance that imperfections do not disqualify anyone from God’s promises.

---

Main Theme & Purpose

Victoria Osteen presents Abraham not as a “self-made man” but as a “God-made man”—someone who became great, wealthy, and impactful not by his own strength, but because he allowed God to direct, shape, and mentor him. This message is an encouragement to listeners to open themselves up to God’s transformational process, even amidst imperfections, challenges, and uncertainty.

Main Message:
"God’s pattern is to take us and make us…God is your greatest mentor."
(Victoria Osteen, 06:20)

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Nature of a "God-Made Man" (02:10)

• Self-Made vs. God-Made: While “self-made” people rely on their own power, Abraham is presented as someone who trusted God to take him somewhere new and make him able for his calling.
• Genesis 12:2 Context: God tells Abraham to leave his land, promising to make him great and a blessing—“I want to take you, and I want to make you.”

"His label read: God-made man. Because he willingly trusted God to take him somewhere he didn’t know...and to make him able to do what God told him to do."
(Victoria Osteen, 02:40)

2. Abraham’s Lasting Impact (04:10)

• Inheritance through Faith: Christians are "seeds of Abraham" thanks to Jesus’s lineage—meaning God’s promises to Abraham also apply to believers.
• Desire for God's Blessing: Victoria encourages listeners to yearn for the "God-made" label, as it ties into favor, influence, and being a blessing to others.

"I want to say to you what God said to Abraham: I want to bless you. I want to take you. I want to make you."
(Victoria Osteen, 05:10)

3. God’s Promises of Vindication and Blessing (05:45)

• Protection and Justice: God promised Abraham He’d bless those who bless him, curse those who curse him—modernized as God promising justification and vindication for His people.
• God’s Desire for Us to Thrive: God wants believers to be "over," not "beneath"; the head, not the tail.

4. God’s Pattern of Transformation (06:25)

• He Takes and Makes: God’s process is to “take us and make us,” as seen when Jesus called the disciples (“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”).
• Requirement: Not perfection, but willingness.
• Abraham's Journey: Abraham’s faith was imperfect and developed over time; God strengthened him, even in moments of weakness or misdirection.

"Abraham was not called by God because he had complete faith...he was called by God because he was willing."
(Victoria Osteen, 07:15)

5. God as Ultimate Mentor (09:10)

• Divine Mentorship vs. Human Mentorship: While leadership books and mentors help, God is the ultimate mentor—He shapes and equips people for their unique callings.
• Application: This applies to every area—parenting, leadership, and personal growth.

"God is your greatest mentor. Jesus Christ is your greatest mentor. He is the one that wants to take you and make you."
(Victoria Osteen, 09:25)

6. Under Construction—Progress Not Perfection (10:20)

• Analogy of Construction: Life’s messy, just as roadwork or home construction is messy before completion.
• Encouragement: If you can say "I’m not what I used to be," you are on the right path, even if things seem incomplete or imperfect.
• Abraham’s Imperfections: Despite mistakes, God kept guiding and fulfilling promises.

"Sometimes we don’t like what we see in ourselves...but we are under construction. We’re in phases of being completed."
(Victoria Osteen, 11:20)

7. Encouragement from Scripture (12:00)

• Philippians 1:6: Be confident that “He who began a good work in you will complete it.”
• God’s Persistent Care: Challenges are not punishments but part of the transformation process—God never leaves or forsakes, always working for completion.

"Be confident in those difficult times that God is doing a work in you."
(Victoria Osteen, 12:14)

8. God's Active Mentorship—Not Just Comfort (12:50)

• Mentorship Defined: A good mentor doesn’t just comfort, but also challenges—to "get up, keep going, stay the course."
• Endurance Through Challenges: God pushes, sharpens, and strengthens, preparing us for His promises.

"He’s a loving and kind and gentle [mentor]. But He is saying: get up, I am with you, I am for you. I’ll never leave you or forsake you."
(Victoria Osteen, 13:18)

9. Final Encouragement (13:45)

• Completion Is Certain: God will fulfill His promises—believers are "men and women in the making," progressing to completion.
• Affirmation: "Remind yourself: if God be for you, who can be against you?"
• Prayerful Finish: Affirmation of God’s faithfulness and the challenge to trust the process.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I'd rather wear a God-made man label any day, wouldn't you? That sounds good to me, doesn't it?"
  (Victoria Osteen, 03:35)

• "God strengthened him in his faith. So you can see, he was a man in the making."
  (Victoria Osteen, 07:44)

• "We are all under construction...we're in the phases of being completed. We're in progress. And so was Abraham. But God still fulfilled His promises to Abraham."
  (Victoria Osteen, 11:39)

• "Be confident in this...that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
  (Victoria Osteen quoting Philippians 1:6, 12:07)

• "God is a faithful God. He pushes you. He sharpens you. That's what God does to us in difficult times."
  (Victoria Osteen, 13:27)

• "You are my man. You are my woman of faith. You are God's man in the making. Be confident of this. Remind yourself, if God be for you, who dare be against you."
  (Victoria Osteen, 13:55)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:44] — Introduction of "God-made man" Concept
• [03:00] — Abraham’s Story and Calling (Genesis 12:2)
• [05:10] — Blessings and Promises Passed to Believers
• [06:25] — God’s Pattern: “I Will Make You”
• [07:44] — Abraham’s Growth and Imperfections
• [09:10] — God as Mentor vs. Human Mentors
• [10:20] — “Under Construction” Analogy
• [12:00] — Philippians 1:6 and Confidence in God's Process
• [12:50] — Mentorship: Comfort and Challenge
• [13:55] — Final Affirmations and Encouragement

---

Tone and Takeaway

Victoria Osteen speaks in a warm, affirming, and rallying tone—mixing gentle encouragement with motivating challenge. The heart of her message is both comforting and empowering: even when faith or circumstances seem inadequate or messy, God’s mentorship is unwavering, and His promises will be realized in those who allow themselves to be “God-made.”

---

For Listeners:
If you’re feeling imperfect, in progress, or under construction, this episode assures you that God’s process is at work. You don’t have to be perfect—just willing—and God, your ultimate mentor, will see you through to completion.

---

Transcript

[Skechers Advertiser]

Moms and dads. Do you wish you could know where your kids shoes are at all times? Now you can with Skecher's newest Apple AirTag compatible sneakers. Find My Skechers. There's a clever hidden Airtag compartment under the shoe's insole. It's sleek, secure and your child can't feel or see it. Then you can check where your kids shoes are on the Find My app. Plus they're available for boys and girls. Get Find my [e-mail], a Skechers store near you or wherever kids shoes are sold. Apple AirTags sold separately. Class is now in session and the UPS store is here to help you.

[Religious Program Announcer]

Ace arriving on campus. Our certified packing experts can pack everything.

[Skechers Advertiser]

You need from desktops to decor. Plus, when you pack and ship with.

[Religious Program Announcer]

Us, you get our exclusive pack and.

[Skechers Advertiser]

Ship guarantee your items arrive safe or your money back.

[Religious Program Announcer]

Restrictions and limitations apply. To get a 20% off packing coupon and for full details, visit theupsstore.com packing.

[NetSuite Oracle Advertiser]

What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts, you'll get 10 answers. Bull market. Bear market rates will rise or fall. Can someone please invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 42,000 businesses have future proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle. The number one Cloud ERP, NetSuite can help you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com Osteen the guide is free to you at netsuite.com Osteen hi, this is Joel and Victoria.

[Joel Osteen]

Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

[Joel Osteen (Preacher)]

If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend?

[Joel Osteen]

We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life.

[Joel Osteen (Preacher)]

We believe it Father. We stand in awe of who you are in Jesus name have you ever heard the term a self made man? Usually it refers to someone who had nothing and became wealthy and influential all on his own. Usually it's one of those rags to riches stories. We've all heard them, read about them, seen them on tv. But today I want to talk about a man who became wealthy, influential and he was a legacy lever on this earth. Now this man was not a self made man. His label read God made man. He was a God made man. And the reason I say and describe him as a God made man is because God spoke to him and said something very significant to him. Now this man's name is Abraham. Yeah. Abraham, the father of our faith. The one we read about in Genesis. He was a God made man. In Genesis 12:2. He was living in a land where his father had settled. His relatives were all there. When God spoke to him, he said this to him. He said, abraham, I want you to leave the land of your father and I want to take you to a land that I will show you and I want to make you into a great nation. What God spoke to him was, I want to take you and I want to make you. That's why Abraham wears the label God made man. Because he willingly trusted God to take him somewhere he didn't know he was even going, where he was even going. And he trusted God to make him able to do what God had called him to do. Now God said this to Abraham. He said, abraham, I'm gonna make you wealthy. I'm gonna make you a blessing and I'm going to make you where you bless other people. He said, I'm going to make you a great nation and all the people on earth will be blessed because of you. Listen, I'd rather wear a God made man label any day. Wouldn't you? That sounds good to me, doesn't it? I want to make you. And you see, he willingly went and obeyed God and God fulfilled his his promises to Abraham. And today that willing God made man allowed you and I to stand in the place we stand today as believers in Jesus Christ. Because he told Abraham that I'm going to make you your seed great. I'm going to make your seed great. And what he did was he brought Jesus Christ to this earth through the lineage of Abraham. So you and I are the seed of Abraham because we're born of Jesus Christ. Okay? That's what qualifies us for God to say the same thing to you and I that he said to Abraham. Because we're born of Abraham's seed. He said, I'm going to make all the people on earth be able to have this advantage in life because of Jesus Christ. So today I want to say to you what God said to Abraham. I want to bless you. I want to take you, I want to make you. I want to make you a blessing here on this earth. I want you to wear the label God made you. See, God is saying the same thing to you. And I. I want to bless you. I want you to be over. I don't want you to be beneath. I want you to be the head. I don't want you to be the tail. He told Abraham I'll vindicate you. That means he said, those who curse you, I'll curse. Those who bless you, I'll bless. In modern day terms he says, don't worry Abraham, I'll justify you and I'll vindicate you. And then. And that's exactly what God wants to do in your life. But you've got to allow him to make you. You see, God's pattern is to take us and make us even. In the New Testament, when Jesus called his disciples, you know what he said to them? He said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I will make you. Which means I will help you. I will enable you to become everything I've called you to be. Now, Abraham was not called by God because he had complete faith. Because his faith was perfect. He was called by God because he was willing. And you read through his story and do read his story in Genesis, it's very fascinating. You could read it over and over again and God will show you different things. But it says in there, as he was journeying through this pilgrimage, this journey of life which we all do, it said that God strengthened him in his faith. So you can see he was a man in the making. He was a God man in the making. God strengthened his faith and he gave praise to God. When you read his story, you'll understand. And many of you know that Abraham was not a perfect man. Abraham made his share of mistakes. But you know what? God never left him. God never forsook him. When Abraham stepped out in front of God and went the wrong way, guess what? God was right there with him. Easing him back on course, strengthening him in his faith and his resolve. See, God's pattern is a great mentorship program. Many people want a mentor in their life. They think if I could just get with this person, they could tell me everything that they knew I could glean from them. Read success books, read leadership books. They say get around the people you want to be like. Get inspired by them and that's good. But God is your greatest mentor. Jesus Christ is your greatest mentor. He is the one that wants to take you and make you. He wants to make you a great parent. He wants to make you a great leader. Listen, I would rather be parented than by a God made man. Than a man who thinks he could do it on his own. I'd rather be married to a God made man than a man who thinks he's in control of it all. Listen, we wear the label. You are a man in the making. We are men in the making. But we have to understand God is not going to disqualify us if we make a mistake. He didn't disqualify Abraham, and he's not going to disqualify us. We just have to dig our heels in and try to stay the course as he's strengthening us in our faith. He's a strengthener. You know, it's interesting because, you know, you've heard that saying, I'm not all that I want to be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be. You heard that saying. If you can say that today, that's a good thing. It's a good thing because it means you're on the road to progress. And sometimes the road to progress can be messy because we're all under construction. You know, when they tear the roads up here in Houston and you're just like, man, it's a mess. It's just a mess. It's a construction site. I remember when we built our house years ago. And during the different phases of construction, I would go out there and I didn't particularly like what I saw. I was like, come on, this has got to be. This has got to progress faster than this. I remember thinking, it's a mess. Where's a broom? I'm going to sweep up. See, I didn't see always what I wanted to see until it got closer to the finished product. And then it got better and better and better. And you know what? We're all under construction. Sometimes we don't like what we see in ourselves. We don't like what we say in ourselves. But we are under construction. We're in the phases of being completed. We're in progress. And so was Abraham. But God still fulfilled his promises to Abraham. And God is going to fulfill his promises to you. Now, I want you to be encouraged with this scripture because this is super important in the process, in the construction phase. This is so important. Philippians 1:6 says, Be confident in this. In what? In the construction phase. Be confident that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Be confident in those difficult times that God is doing a work in you. Be confident in the challenges. Listen, we don't go through difficult times and challenges because God wants to punish us. We go through things cause it's part of the process. But God, the great mentor, has his hands on us the entire time. He is not gonna let us fall or fail. He is going to complete us and get us to the destination that we were intended to now you know what a great if Abraham was here today and he said, look, I'm gonna take you. I'm going to mentor you. I've walked with God. I can tell you all about it. You know, he wouldn't pat your hand and say, oh, it's going to be okay. Don't worry, baby. It's all right. You just sit right there. No. You know what a great mentor does. He loves you, but he challenges you. He says, look, I've been through this before. I know God is faithful. Get up. Keep going. Stay the course. God is a faithful God. He pushes you. He sharpens you. That's what God does to us in difficult times. He doesn't pat us on the back all the time. He's a loving and kind and gentle. But he is saying, get up. I am with you. I am for you. I'll never leave you or forsake you. You're going to be strengthened in your faith as you go through it. So when you get to the other side, you're prepared for the next level. You're prepared for me to bring forth the promises that I have in store. You're prepared to be the blessing that I am making you into. You are my man. You are my woman of faith. You are God's man in the making. Be competent of this. Remind yourself if God be for you, who dare be against you and you are on the road to completion. Amen. Amen. He's an awesome God.

[Religious Program Announcer]

God's healing isn't earned, it's received. And you can discover how in the next 31 days.

[Joel Osteen]

Life has a way of wearing us down physically, mentally, emotionally. But God didn't create us to just survive, but to thrive. Now I'm excited about our new devotional, Happy, Healthy and free. For 31 days, I'll take you on a wellness journey for your spirit, body and soul. It's filled with daily declarations, scriptures, encouragement. As you get your mind in tune with what God says, you'll experience a refreshing, a revitalization. You were created to be strong, to be passionate, to live happy, healthy and full.

[Religious Program Announcer]

When you contact us today, we'll send you happy, Healthy and free a 31 day wellness journey as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount. This devotional will help you strengthen your faith, declare God's promises and receive the healing he's already made available to you. Spirit, soul and body. God wants you whole and this resource will help you experience his peace from the inside out. Please request your copy today. Begin a life receiving life giving journey that will transform your spirit, mind and body. In just 31 days, God is going.

[Joel Osteen]

To restore what the enemy tried to steal. Your joy, your peace, your health. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Thanks so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is bringing hope to people around the world. Special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning. Download our daily podcast watch on YouTube, the new Joel Osteen Network social media. You can listen on SiriusXM 24 hours a day. We'll keep you encouraged and inspired until we see you next time. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

[Religious Program Announcer]

Be sure to request your copy of Happy, healthy and a 31 day wellness journey. Visit jolosteen.com or call 888-567-Joel for an additional gift. This month we are also offering the Wholeness and Promise Bundle which includes the Happy, Healthy and Free Book plus the Words of Promise Journal, a beautifully designed journal where you can reflect, record prayers and speak life over your future. You can also request the Happy, Healthy and Free Collection featuring the devotional, the Journal and a beautifully crafted set of three desktop encouragement blocks. Each whitewashed wooden block displays one powerful word, happy, Healthy and Free along with a carefully chosen scripture. Place them in your home or workspace as daily reminders of God's promises for your life. You can request these life changing resources by calling 888-567 Joel or logging on to joellostein.com today. Call or click anytime 24 hours a day. This is your season to rise stronger, live lighter and walk daily in God's healing and peace. Request your copies today.

[Joel Osteen]

If you're a pastor, we'd like to invite you to our Pastor's gathering. We'd be honored to spend the day with you here at Lakewood. We'll share some of the things we've learned, insights and behind the scenes be a time of inspiration and encouragement. We'd love to meet you.

[Skechers Advertiser]

Moms and dads. Do you wish you could know where your kids shoes are at all times? Now you can with Skecher's newest Apple AirTag compatible sneakers. Find my Skechers. There's a clever hidden Airtag compartment under the shoe's insole. It's sleek, secure and your child can't feel or see it. Then you can check where your kids shoes are on the Find My app. Plus they're available for boys and girls. Get Find my [e-mail], a Skechers store near you or wherever kids shoes are sold. Apple Airtags sold separately.

[Religious Program Announcer]

Mazda Once you discover the Mazda CX5 Mazda, it doesn't take long to get it. With standard all wheel drive, a premium interior interior and advanced safety features, it's an SUV that gives you more at every turn. It will have you saying Mazda. The Mazda CX5. It's made to move you.

[NetSuite Oracle Advertiser]

Every Mazda SUV offers you an elevated driving experience and refined performance. Discover it at your local Mazda dealer today. Suffering from dry, tired, irritated eyes? Don't let dry eyes win. Use Sustain Pro. It hydrates, restores and protects dry eyes for up to 12 hours. Sustain Pro Triple Action Dry Eye Relief.