But what God has taught me through it is beautiful…
Let’s be real, acne sucks. We freak out at even the slightest sight of a pimple forming. Society deems it as undesirable because it doesn’t fit the standard of “perfection”.
For what feels like forever, I have struggled with acne. About a year ago it got the worst it has ever been. I was mortified.
I let it begin to control me. I would choose to stay home so I could avoid showing my face in public. I refused to leave the house without using make up to cover it up. I thought every person who looked at me only saw the acne.
I was destroying my self image and confidence more with each day. One night it all came crashing down on me. I couldn’t even look at the girl staring back at me in the mirror. I reached my breaking point, and God chose to meet me there.
As I looked with disgust at the scars acne was leaving behind, God whispered to me ‘I have scars too’.
My world was rocked- these 4 simple words changed everything.
Jesus’ flesh was nailed on the cross, and thorns pierced His head as He hung for thousands to see. Why? To save people like you and me.
I was looking in the mirror at a girl who used to be so lost in this world, but was saved through the scars that pierced her Savior’s body. His scars are a symbol of life reborn in me.
God used this experience to show me how I put my identity in outward appearance. I was so caught up in what the world defines as beauty, that I couldn’t even see how I was intentionally made by the Almighty Creator.
From that day forward I decided to choose self-love. I wanted to love the girl staring back at me- even the scars and imperfections. It is not always easy, and it is a battle I am still fighting daily, but I am beginning to taste the freedom.
I no longer obsess over it. In fact, I forget about it more often than not. Everytime I see my reflection, I affirm that I am beautiful. I thank God for making me just the way He did. I rarely wear make up. Some days I even challenge myself to not look in the mirror (which is pretty easy on the race considering we usually don’t have mirrors).
I feel a difference in myself. My confidence is coming back, and my identity as Christ’s beautiful daughter is strengthening. I am learning how to love myself deeper.
So why am I telling you this? Because America has tried to create a standard for beauty. It is ridiculous to attempt to define the creation of a limitless God. He does not make mistakes when He creates. Every piece of you is formed in His perfect way.
Comparison is robbing women and men of loving their self-image. Even worse, we’re comparing ourselves to images that have been photoshopped and in no way depict reality.
Our teeth don’t need to be whiter, our hair doesn’t need to be fuller, our bodies don’t need to be more fit, and we don’t need what someone else has.
The only thing we need is to see ourselves as God does- perfectly created in His own image.
I challenge you to love yourself from the inside out. To look in the mirror and marvel at what you see. To let your character, not your looks, define you. And to learn to love yourself on a deeper level than ever before.
Psalm 139:14
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
