Y'all. So It's 8:30 pm & I should be doing my bible reading & getting ready for bed, but this just hit me. I have to write these words out before I lose them. My hope is that you find confidence through this message as you face this week.
Let's start like this: I am so tall. My skin is so fair complected its not even funny. I do not tan...at all...i burn (one reason I hate the beach). My hair is red. I have freckles. Yea, I know. I hate freckles - even the word. Ugh. So you get the gist of my complaints I hope. It's super easy for me to look in the mirror & call the girl ugly who stares back at me. I'm sharing this for one reason: something tells me you do the same thing.
But we've really got to change.
Ya know, you're probably just like me; completely use to people telling you, "girl, you're gorgeous!", & then we laugh to ourselves with the (not-so-gorgeous) image we have of ourselves stumbling to the bathroom, trying to find a hairbrush at 7 o'clock in the morning.
We want to look so badly like her. We stalk pictures & envy the thigh gap & bikini body & perfect eye lashes... & where can we get that outfit? What's her secret?
Friend, the same God who created you created me, and He tells us both;
Let's start like this: I am so tall. My skin is so fair complected its not even funny. I do not tan...at all...i burn (one reason I hate the beach). My hair is red. I have freckles. Yea, I know. I hate freckles - even the word. Ugh. So you get the gist of my complaints I hope. It's super easy for me to look in the mirror & call the girl ugly who stares back at me. I'm sharing this for one reason: something tells me you do the same thing.
But we've really got to change.
Ya know, you're probably just like me; completely use to people telling you, "girl, you're gorgeous!", & then we laugh to ourselves with the (not-so-gorgeous) image we have of ourselves stumbling to the bathroom, trying to find a hairbrush at 7 o'clock in the morning.
We want to look so badly like her. We stalk pictures & envy the thigh gap & bikini body & perfect eye lashes... & where can we get that outfit? What's her secret?
Friend, the same God who created you created me, and He tells us both;
"You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you" Song of Solomon 4:7
I tend to read this & think of it as a normal bible verse people throw at you to make you feel good; but when you think about it, God actually did say we are altogether beautiful.
This gets me thinking.
If our Creator - yes, the Dude who literally designed the trees outside our bedroom windows - says there is no flaw in us, that's a pretty big deal. Actually, that's a huge deal.
Imagine we paint a perfect painting (haha, I know, pretty hard to imagine), & when we show it off to our friends & family, they call it ugly. Ouch. Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God's masterpiece; so each time we envy others, or look in the mirror with hate for the person in the reflection, we are calling God's perfect masterpiece...ugly.
No no no, I'm not telling myself, or you, for that matter, to walk around bragging about how beautiful God made you. Gosh, that'd be real weird. I'm saying take great comfort that our Lord calls you beautiful. Forget what other people say, trust what our Creator says.
We are beautiful.
No makeup, no perfectly straightened hair, pajamas. I'm talking about pajamas. Like an old sweatshirt with holes in it with our favorite plaid pajamas pants, watching TV on the couch with a legit towel around our wet hair. Pajamas. We're beautiful. For real y'all. Not because the world says so, but because God said so; & because all the people that are worth spending time with would love you for who you are - not for what you look like.
The whole thing that kinda started me getting all worked up about this topic of self confidence or whatever is because of this storybook I just finished reading to my two youngest siblings. I have no doubt, we read an extra chapter for a reason because listen to this.
The Milly-Molly Mandy Storybook. Told & drawn by Joyce Lankenster Brisley. Chapter 5.
(This is my summery of this story that gave me all this inspiration.. Get ready for me to start ranting about something you probably don't really care about.) There's a party & Milly-Molly-Mandy is invited. Once she arrives in her perfect little dress, she glances over at the prizes for the games. A lovely fairy doll, & a "funny little white cotton-wool rabbit". Now guess which one she wanted. (Haha, you know where I'm going with this.) Sadly, Jilly ended up getting the white cotton-wool rabbit, & Milly-Molly-Mandy got the lovely fairy doll. Yea...not quite what she was going for. Now here's the good part (this is coming straight out of the book.):
"...Miss Muggins' niece Jilly, who hadn't won any of the games, got the little cotton-wool rabbit with the sad, beady eyes - for do you know? The cotton-wool rabbit was only the booby prize, after all! Milly-Molly-Mandy's fairy doll was lovely, but Milly-Molly-Mandy was sure Miss Muggins' Jilly wasn't loving the booby rabbit as it ought to be loved, for its beady eyes did look so sad, and when she got near Miss Muggins' Jilly she stroked the booby rabbit, and Miss Muggins' Jilly stroked the fairy dolls hair. Then Milly-Molly-Mandy said, "Do you love the fairy doll more than the booby rabbit?" And Miss Muggins' Jilly said, "I should think so!" So Milly-Molly-Mandy ran up to the lady who had given the prizes, and asked if she and Miss Muggins' Jilly might exchange prizes, and the lady said, "Yes, of course." So Milly-Molly-Mandy and the booby rabbit went home together to the nice white cottage with the thatched roof, and Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty all liked the booby rabbit very much indeed. And do you know, one day one of his little bead eyes dropped off, and when Mother had stuck it on again with a dab of glue, his eyes didn't look a bit sad any more, but almost as happy as Milly-Molly-Mandy's own!"
That's how it ends. AHHH. Is it just me, or is that one of the most beautiful, silly, happy story's you've ever heard? It's a perfect illustration of Christ's love for us funny little dirty sinful people. Oh, how He loves us, & how beautiful we are made by His grace.
Now I could make this some eloquently written thing about inward beauty & what God sees when He looks at our hearts, but I'm gonna keep this simple & on the same subject: He wants us. He says we're beautiful.
Let that sink in... Read it again & again. Remind me day by day. I'll remind you, too. The Guy who created you says He has found no flaw in you. So you & me can both say with faith, we are altogether beautiful.
Wow. Thank you Jesus.
This gets me thinking.
If our Creator - yes, the Dude who literally designed the trees outside our bedroom windows - says there is no flaw in us, that's a pretty big deal. Actually, that's a huge deal.
Imagine we paint a perfect painting (haha, I know, pretty hard to imagine), & when we show it off to our friends & family, they call it ugly. Ouch. Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God's masterpiece; so each time we envy others, or look in the mirror with hate for the person in the reflection, we are calling God's perfect masterpiece...ugly.
No no no, I'm not telling myself, or you, for that matter, to walk around bragging about how beautiful God made you. Gosh, that'd be real weird. I'm saying take great comfort that our Lord calls you beautiful. Forget what other people say, trust what our Creator says.
We are beautiful.
No makeup, no perfectly straightened hair, pajamas. I'm talking about pajamas. Like an old sweatshirt with holes in it with our favorite plaid pajamas pants, watching TV on the couch with a legit towel around our wet hair. Pajamas. We're beautiful. For real y'all. Not because the world says so, but because God said so; & because all the people that are worth spending time with would love you for who you are - not for what you look like.
The whole thing that kinda started me getting all worked up about this topic of self confidence or whatever is because of this storybook I just finished reading to my two youngest siblings. I have no doubt, we read an extra chapter for a reason because listen to this.
The Milly-Molly Mandy Storybook. Told & drawn by Joyce Lankenster Brisley. Chapter 5.
(This is my summery of this story that gave me all this inspiration.. Get ready for me to start ranting about something you probably don't really care about.) There's a party & Milly-Molly-Mandy is invited. Once she arrives in her perfect little dress, she glances over at the prizes for the games. A lovely fairy doll, & a "funny little white cotton-wool rabbit". Now guess which one she wanted. (Haha, you know where I'm going with this.) Sadly, Jilly ended up getting the white cotton-wool rabbit, & Milly-Molly-Mandy got the lovely fairy doll. Yea...not quite what she was going for. Now here's the good part (this is coming straight out of the book.):
"...Miss Muggins' niece Jilly, who hadn't won any of the games, got the little cotton-wool rabbit with the sad, beady eyes - for do you know? The cotton-wool rabbit was only the booby prize, after all! Milly-Molly-Mandy's fairy doll was lovely, but Milly-Molly-Mandy was sure Miss Muggins' Jilly wasn't loving the booby rabbit as it ought to be loved, for its beady eyes did look so sad, and when she got near Miss Muggins' Jilly she stroked the booby rabbit, and Miss Muggins' Jilly stroked the fairy dolls hair. Then Milly-Molly-Mandy said, "Do you love the fairy doll more than the booby rabbit?" And Miss Muggins' Jilly said, "I should think so!" So Milly-Molly-Mandy ran up to the lady who had given the prizes, and asked if she and Miss Muggins' Jilly might exchange prizes, and the lady said, "Yes, of course." So Milly-Molly-Mandy and the booby rabbit went home together to the nice white cottage with the thatched roof, and Father and Mother and Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle and Aunty all liked the booby rabbit very much indeed. And do you know, one day one of his little bead eyes dropped off, and when Mother had stuck it on again with a dab of glue, his eyes didn't look a bit sad any more, but almost as happy as Milly-Molly-Mandy's own!"
That's how it ends. AHHH. Is it just me, or is that one of the most beautiful, silly, happy story's you've ever heard? It's a perfect illustration of Christ's love for us funny little dirty sinful people. Oh, how He loves us, & how beautiful we are made by His grace.
Now I could make this some eloquently written thing about inward beauty & what God sees when He looks at our hearts, but I'm gonna keep this simple & on the same subject: He wants us. He says we're beautiful.
Let that sink in... Read it again & again. Remind me day by day. I'll remind you, too. The Guy who created you says He has found no flaw in you. So you & me can both say with faith, we are altogether beautiful.
Wow. Thank you Jesus.