The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7
There are dozens of tiny little dancers fluttering their way into the dance studio. Little girls in pink, in tiny little shoes, they bounce around, carefree and happy.
As I watch their joy I can't help but pray that they stay this way for as long as possible. They are sweet little souls without insecurity, without a concern about what they see when they dance and look into that big mirror.
And I watch them and I wonder about the moment that it all changes because it is no secret to you or me…we are not the girls in little pink shoes anymore dancing joyfully in front of a mirror. We are long past these days and we are well into the days of worrying about the hips we inherited from a long line of women or our cellulite or the curves we desire or the way our skin can spill over our jeans or our stretch marks or the bra size we wish we fit into.
Many of us do very well at worrying about what we see and what we don't see in the mirror, and many of us certainly don't feel like dancing.
We look long and we agonize and we over think and we wonder what others must think of this body we live in…and we give this worry the power to wreck a day, or a week or even a year or many, or the way we feel about a wonderful photo, or the love we feel worthy to receive.
Indeed…each and every single one of us could spend our whole life upset about that reflection. We could spend thousands of moments hating the genetics we've been given and we could spend a lifetime drowning in negative self-talk. We can give these thoughts the capacity to push us to dangerous surgeries and quick-fixes and unhealthy living.
Women…we give worry the power to destroy. And worrying about the way your body looks has the power to damage far too much in your life.
You might be the one who spends your days dwelling and you might spend nights obsessing and it's time to eliminate these days and nights because Christ looks at you, every last part of you, and speaks it, thunderous and true...
...You are made in My image and My likeness and I. love. you. I love you with the hips you inherited and I love you with the belly you received from your bearing of beautiful children and I love you no matter what your thighs look like and I love you if your collar bones show or if they don't show...I love you for you and I desperately want you to love the skin that you live in...
Dear women…please know it deep in your bones…your soul matters more than collar bones and genetics and stretch marks and bra sizes and curves or no curves.
And the more time we spend stressing and obsessing? The less time we have to allow our soul to do what God created us to do; the less time and energy we have to positively affect every person whose life touches ours; the less time we spend in the one life we have been given loving who we are.
The Christ who calls you perfectly made wants you happy and healthy. We can spend hours in the gym and never lose the hips we hate and we can hope all day long to fit into a bigger or smaller size and it may never happen. Put your energy into being active, eating good things, and loving you for you. The beautiful life we've been given is not about being stick-thin or curvy, it's about being a woman who knows who she is in Christ - happy, strong, and alive.
The way your body looks and your worth will never have any correlation with one another. Christ calls you worthy because you are made in His image and if we would all truly embody and believe this? We could look in the mirror and rejoice.
You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful
-Beautiful, Bethany Dillon