You are beautiful. Deep down inside you, a place of beauty lurks, waiting for living water to set it free. Stick your fingers in your ear and cover your eyes and ignore the words and images of all the naysayers who say that only the thin, the perfect, the athletic, the ‘with it’ people have a corner on the beauty market.
There is no market. That’s the lie. Outward beauty is a façade created by society to cover up insecurities. Your self-worth doesn’t come from a bottle (of hair dye, nail polish, diet pills, designer shampoo, beer or vodka)—it comes from knowing that you are loved.
And you are. You are loved to the earth and back, from heaven to the cross. Jesus didn’t die for just the beautiful—he died for YOU—with the grey hairs, the crow’s feet, the rolls of fat, the swollen ankles, the acne, the zit, the flabby upper arms, or the double chin.
You can’t change that. No matter how much you mentally or verbally abuse yourself, it won’t change the fact that Jesus loves you to the earth and back.
So you’ve messed up. You’ve dyed your hair the wrong color, gotten drunk, failed to love, slept around, lied, cheated, overeaten, committed murder (in real life or in your heart). It doesn’t matter. Jesus loves you. We all sin and fall short of God’s plan for our lives. He loves us anyway. He never gives up on us.
Don’t give up on yourself. You are beautiful. [shareable]You have #gifts that no one else has—talents or compassion that only you can offer to the world.[/shareable]
Maybe you think you look passable on the outside, but your inner state makes you cringe—you yell at your kids, snap at your spouse, throw impatient words at the world or harbor hate in your heart. Jesus loves you. He knows how soul-weary a person can get. He knows how physical fatigue wears you thin and exposes your nerves like electrical wires without the protective plastic.
He offers protection and peace. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) [shareable]You don’t have to power through life alone with your burdens. #caregiver[/shareable]
Stop looking at yourself through the eyes of world. See yourself through God’s eyes. [shareable]You are his beloved, beautiful child, and he yearns for you to feel the same way about yourself that he does. #mentalhealth[/shareable]
Take a moment to stop, to quiet the voices that accuse you. Drown those lies out and repeat after me: “I am beautiful. God loves me. No matter what.” Living water awaits.
