Growing up, I have struggled with my self esteem, and with my outer appearance. I have been bullied, and called some pretty horrible names in school. I tried my best to ignore the kids that were taunting me on the playground, but as each day went on, my self-esteem and self-worth started to chip away. I didn’t feel pretty like all the other girls., and watching TV didn’t help at all. Instead, television aided in the downfall of my self-worth. The media taught me that fair skin, blue eyes, and long hair was considered beautiful and normal. My features were opposite of what society deemed beautiful.
I, like countless other women, have stared in the mirror, nick picking all of the flaws that I could see on my body that I felt weren’t good enough.
“If only my stomach was smaller,” I told myself.
“If only I was lighter, or if my hair was longer I would be happy, beautiful, better,” or so I believed.
I was blinded by worldly opinions, and could not see what God said about me. That I am beloved, worth more than the clothes that I wear. That I am a daughter of a King, a masterpiece, fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of the all mighty God.
For years, I thought beauty came from the outer appearance. The one that everyone can see. But, on the contrary, our beauty comes from inside us. Our beauty comes from our heart, and is shown through our character.
How can we let our beauty shine from the inside out? Well, you have to ask yourself the following:
Are you gentle and quiet spirited? (1 Peter 3: 3-4)
How’s your spirit? Are you gentle? Quiet? Our inner spirit is what matters to God. We are called to be gentle, not only with others, but with ourselves. In the Hebrews translation, gentle is pronounced, Rak, which means to be tender or delicate. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, are you being tender or delicate with yourself? To be gentle is to not be harsh on yourself, as well as others. To be quiet is to be calm with yourself, and with others.
Are your thoughts true, noble, right, pure, or lovely? (Philippians 4:8)
When you think beautiful you feel, and become beautiful. Your thoughts are who you are. If you tell yourself you are not good enough, you start to feel that way, and you know that ain’t nothing but a lie, because God said you are enough. Over the years, I developed the habit of stinking thinkin. I struggled with negative thoughts daily. Then, I came across this verse, and it changed my life. My thoughts weren’t noble or true. Instead, they were dishonest and negative. God said that we are loved, forgiven, blessed, and beautiful. The enemy will try to tell you otherwise. Any thoughts that aren’t good, honorable, praiseworthy, or true, is not from God. God said you are worthy, He said you worth more that rubies, that you have been redeemed.
Are we carrying the fruit of the spirit? (Galatians 5:22-23)
- Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control. These are all Christ-like character traits that we all have within us.
- When I don’t bear the fruit of love, I become insecure.
- When I am not growing fruits of joy, I become depressed
- When I’m not showing kindness gentleness or goodness towards or others, I feel convicted
- When I’m not faithful, I don’t feel trustworthy
- When I’m not self-controlled, I lose control
In order to bear copious amounts of good fruit we must know God, follow him, honor him, and love him. And by doing so, the Holy Ghost will fill us up, and we will come to bear much fruit of the spirit.
Our beauty comes from our heart. This kind of great beauty is mature one. A peaceful beauty that never fades away. When we take our eyes off the mirror, and fix our eyes on who God said we are in him, we can focus of things of more importance.
As women we tend to focus on the latest fashions. We want to stay hip to the trends, but the beauty of our clothes and jewels don’t matter if our inner spirit is ugly.