VALUABLE Week 2: Appearance

I think one of the biggest challenges young women in America face is learning to accept and love ourselves for who we are, and for how we were created. Part of that is accepting and loving the way we look on the outside--and that can be very hard to do.

The world tells us a lot of things about our appearance that just isn't true. We're told we need to slim down, tone up, get tan, wear more makeup, wear less makeup, straighten our hair, curl our hair, have expensive clothes, have flawless skin--and the list goes on and on! What we end up with is a massive heap of confusing and conflicting expectations for the way we are supposed to look on the outside.

Sometimes, we can get so overwhelmed with all the ways we aren't meeting the world's expectations, that we can forget Who we are living for. 

The truth is, God created us intentionally and for a purpose. Listen to the words of David in Psalm 139:13-14...

For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

Ladies, the Bible tells us that God created us, and He created us wonderfully. If God Himself declares that you are wonderfully made, let me tell you--IT IS TRUE! 

The most powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, mighty being in the universe has declared that you are beautiful--that you are VALUABLE--just as you are. The world may tell us we have to fix our faces and bodies and hair and nails and clothes before we can be declared beautiful. But our God, the knower of all things, says otherwise. He says you are valuable and beautiful because He knit you together exactly the way you are. He gave you your freckles, your hair, your height, your eyes, your skin. And He absolutely adores you.

So friends, the next time you begin to doubt your outer beauty, remind yourself of the truth: you are beautiful and valuable the way God has created you. WONDERFUL are His works. He doesn't make mistakes. :)

Abbi