I learned something new about men yesterday, they are as insecure as we are. I honestly didn't realize it. Do you know if you're a man and you don't talk about cars, girls, sex and sports, you don't fit in? I hadn't really thought about it much but I can see why that would be. Women struggle with body image, beauty, and fitting in totally different than men do.
A man that feels inadequate in height, weight or body mass is as insecure as we are. To be honest, I really hadn't thought about it until yesterday when my oldest son was comparing himself to a man that is two inches taller and probably 20 pounds larger. It hit me like a brick, somewhere in our thought life things go totally wrong. God made us who we are, uniquely and all of the sudden we are competing to be the best, the most beautiful or the strongest. Where did we go wrong?
To try to get my son away from the inferiority he was feeling, I asked him if I should have a breast augmentation. I'm sure you can guess how that went over. Well, it's one thing to eat right, exercise and take care of yourself; it's a whole different thing if your doing it because someone else is more beautiful, more enhanced, or stronger. You get the picture.
We were made in God's image and yet, we are always trying to change it. Plastic surgery, Botox, Liposuction are at an all time high. Why? Because we can't stand to look in the mirror and see what God created. We are fighting anorexia, obesity, and self-esteem problems so large in the United States that we worry about that more than the starving African children. It's time to change our perspectives and be glad that God fearfully and wonderfully made us.
Faith means a confidence or trust in a thing. For us, we need to have confidence and trust that God made us exactly like He wanted too and we are to take care of His creation. Don't use unnatural means to take care of yourself, trust in God, take a walk, talk to a friend, believe that you are beautiful. The world's vision of beautiful is totally messed up! God cares about the heart. He cares about being in relationship with us and He cares when we step out on faith and trust Him.
It's times like these I am ashamed for looking on the outside. Like my son, I have worried about my appearance. When I was younger, I struggled with anorexia and as I got older I learned to enjoy food way too much. There must be a balance in our lives. So, if you're one of the ones that struggles with their outward appearance, has gained too much weight, lives in depression and rarely eats, or has gone for a series of Botox injections, listen to me, the Lord your God made you to be His. You have a purpose on this earth and it's not mans purpose. It belongs to God. If you want to change something about yourself, especially if your needing to get healthy, then do it. Ask God for the strength to be healthy. Get with friends, take a walk, eat better and pray. Women's bodies forever change but if we are doing what God wants, then we should be working on the inside and the outside will fix itself. Take heart my sisters for He is near.
If you remember only one thing from this post today; remember that God made You perfectly. You may not be a '10' in the world but if you work on faith, hope and love, you will always be a '10' in God's book! Believe me when I say that I struggle too and now I know that the men in my life do too. I will be praying that all of us come to the realization that we are beautiful to the Lord. At the end of our lives, I doubt He will talk to us about our beauty. More than likely, He will talk to us about our hearts.
Psalm 139: 14 NIV84
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Jeremiah1:5 NIV84
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
From these Scriptures God is telling us that he made us and that we are set apart for His glory. Today, as you step in front of the mirror, right before you pick yourself apart, look into it and say, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." "My God makes no mistakes!" You are not a mistake; You are His and we all need to be confident in the fact that we are chosen to do greater things far beyond beauty. We were chosen to love people and to make Him known. At the end of the day, how do you want to be remembered? We will age no matter what we do to try to stay young, the fountain of youth runs out starting at 20 so, let's concentrate on the one thing that can grow with age, our hearts! To women in every country realize you are beautiful and made for this day.
My prayer today:
Lord, as I look upon the words You have provided today I see two things clearly, we are beautifully and wonderfully made and we need to work on our hearts and forget the image of the world. I have fallen short many times on my journey. I have tried to be who I am not and for that I am truly sorry. I am grateful that you made me the way I am and I hope in the future that my concentration will be on my heart, not my body. Help men and women stand up and have faith that we are Your creation and that our purpose is larger than our body image. Give us a fear of You and a mighty dose of the Holy Spirit so that we can take care of the vessels You gave us, without worshipping them before You. We are Your chosen and we stand on faith, that through prayer and petition, You will bend us, mold us and make us known throughout the world as Your chosen people. We accept the challenge today to become men and women of You and to believe that You are the creator. Help all of us to look outwardly, beyond ourselves to the needs of Your people. We cry out to You and ask that You will feed the hungry nations and that You will put on our hearts the needs of Your people. We thank you for coming to us with wisdom and power and we pray that in today, we will defeat the outside and grow our hearts towards You! In Jesus name, AMEN.
Until tomorrow...
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