As I enter my 60th year on this planet, I am committed to embrace my imperfection and believe that I am worthy of God’s unconditional love! I want to see myself through His eyes and learn to love every bit of me. It’s a long hard road, especially with these thighs, but I am happy to report that I am making progress!
I have spent the better part of a year praying and talking to God about my self-worth and where it comes from. To be perfectly honest, I have wasted countless years believing it was attached to my success or lack of it, the outfit I was wearing, the company I kept, the home I lived in or the car I drove.
Like a lot of women, I bought into both peer and cultural pressure believing I was supposed to do everything, do it perfectly and looking smokin’ hot while doing it. The smokin’ hot thing was always out of reach, so I would constantly beat myself up for not being skinny enough, pretty enough, smart enough, witty enough, fill-in-the-blank enough!
What I finally learned (thank goodness!) is this….when we allow our self-worth to be determined by how much we can accomplish on a given day, the number on the bathroom scale, the clothes we wear or the handbag we carry, we are setting ourselves up for a lot of pain and suffering!
If we really want to know how to achieve a supernatural, unfading beauty, we will find it in God’s Word. He is absolutely crazy about us!!
And why wouldn’t He be?
God created us in his own image (Genesis 1:27). He says He will never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He knows every hair on our head (Luke 12:7) and knows when we stand up and when we lie down (Psalm 139:8-9). He knit us in our mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:12-14) His hand constantly guides us (Psalm 139:10) and He has plans to prosper us and give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
My all-time favorite verse about how God sees me is Psalm 34:5, “Those who look to Him are radiant”. My husband loves me and tells me I look cute now and then, but radiant? Never! If he did, I’d probably wonder what he’d been up to!
Through His love and care for us, God is telling us that we are beautiful in His eyes. In 1 Peter, He challenges us to look deeper than our physical beauty and embrace and cultivate the unfading beauty that is pleasing to Him.
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” I Peter 3:3-4
To even think of me having a gentle or quiet spirit is a big honkin’ stretch! But I know full well that I am not at my best when I am unplugged from Him and all wrapped up in the messiness of being me. There’s nothing pretty about self-doubt, ugly habits, overwhelming obligations, guilt or regret.
For years I longed for easy, ‘click-here’ solutions to fix my messy life, but it wasn’t until I finally gave up trying to do it all on my own that I found the answers I had been desperately looking for.
I turned my life over to my loving God.
In this past year, I have challenged myself to use His Word and His love as the measuring stick of my self-worth. I no longer want to be blinded by peer pressure and the unrealistic expectations of today’s culture. When I will allow myself to see me through His eyes, I am not just enough, I am stunningly beautiful!
It is my prayer that you and I both come to realize the fabulous life He has set before us. I pray we hunger to know Him intimately through studying His Word. After all, the Bible is a step-by-step guide divinely designed to encourage all of us to live a wonderful, imperfect life that is pure, honest, brave, loving and beautiful!
I hope you join me on this amazing journey!!
