“If you only lose 5 pounds you would be gorgeous”
“If you were just half your size you would be perfect”
“Size 6 and lower means you are healthy”
“Are you sure you don’t want a hair straightener for your birthday?”
“You’re pretty but your mom and sister are gorgeous”
I quickly learned early on in my counseling journey that I truly had a hard time believing and seeing the beauty God has clothed me with. Insecurity followed me well into my adult years because of words like the one’s up top that were constantly being spoken over me. What was ultimately being programmed in me was that I could never quite reach beauty.
I truly LOVE being filipino but one of the skewed understanding we carry as a people group is Beauty. Culturally I don’t live up to the “standards” - our outside appearance seems to be one of the things that ultimately define us. I have been told i’m too fat, my skin is too dark, my hair is too big, that I am an “Old Maid” because i’m not married and so much more.
Not here to vent or point fingers ;) but what I do what to ask is WHAT IS BEAUTY?
Beauty had already existed before we were even created and I believe because we don’t recognize it we’ve come up with our own definition and standard of beauty. The message the world is putting out is that beauty is defined by how thin a woman can be, how much skin she can show, the number on the scale, that make up is necessary to create “flawless faces” and so much more.
Uuugh it’s impossible to keep up!!!!
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A woman named Leslie writes,
“Women who exuded enchanting beauty can be found all throughout the pages of Christian history...they rejected the empty feminine charm of the world and embraced an altogether different kind of beauty – the beauty of Jesus Christ. They showcased femininity as God intended it to be in all its elegance, grace, nobility, and lasting loveliness...God created us to shine with royal beauty. Not to dazzle with a self-promoting beauty; but to be a sparkling reflection of the stunning beauty of our King.
True beauty is found in Jesus. When a set apart woman is captured and captivated by Him, and her life is all about one thing – Christ – then to a warrior poet, she truly is the most beautiful, romantic, and enchanting thing to behold. It is not about outward appearance; it is about the life which flows out of intimacy with the King.”
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Some days I have to look at myself in the mirror and unlearn the false identity/definition of beauty and see that the beauty I behold is the reflection of the Stunning beauty of our King who lives in me.
The Israelites were described as a beautiful people simply because a beautiful God inhabited them.
Daughters of God I want to encourage you to look in the mirror (every day until you believe it) and ask the Lord to help your eyes see the incomparable, heavenly defined, royal, powerful and everlasting Beauty YOU are clothed with.
Lets Restore God’s standard of Beauty. We are His Beautiful People!!!!
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I have an exercise for you too - when we take pictures its so easy to look at the parts that are “wrong” with us am I right?? So take one and look at all the things that are “right” with you 😍 and share it!!!!
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