It’s funny how in some places skinny and tan equates to poor and working in a field but in America that’s considered beautiful. I spent several years grueling to make myself this version of beautiful. I became a broke human french fry by laying in tanning beds 5 days a week. I lived off of sugar free french vanilla cappuccino and cigarettes. I bleached my hair countless times and spent hours and hours and hours…and hours of my life “getting ready” so that heads would turn at my “beauty”. I made sure I always wore “cute” clothes and would not dare be seen any other way. What was the result of all of my efforts? Winding up in the ICU almost dying from an eating disorder by age 17, skin cancer by age 22, many poor relationship choices, and a tornado of devastation that affected everyone in my wake. But hey, it got me a dose of the attention and validation my soul was ravenous for, so it was all worth it, right!? WRONG. It was like putting a bandaid on a gaping 3 foot infected wound.
In Asia, the lighter the skin the more beautiful a person is considered. So, instead of self tanners the shelves are lined with skin lighteners. I am finding that all around the world the search for beauty exists in various forms. Because we’re all people who deep down just want to know that we are loved and accepted. But, thinking fulfillment can be found anywhere other than in a relationship with God is a lie. To break free from the lies is to bring light and expose them so the truth of Gods love can come into that wound like a powerful antidote and heal all of the infection.
And the truth is that beauty is not solely found in this tent of flesh that our soul wears for a few years on this earth and one day gets discarded and decays back into the dust. The truth is that God does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart. Beauty is in the things God created and in Him. It is not something that can be manufactured, sold in a store, or willed into existence. It fits no mold of human thinking. And it is not in finding just the right angle for that picture so that more people will click a button to like it. Finding affirmation in how many likes we get is insanity when we realize that we are not just liked but LOVED by the Creator of the Universe!
I hope that you know, yes you reading this, that YOU are beautiful despite anything the world has told you and despite how you think you look… simply because you were thought up by God! You didn’t make yourself. He made you. You are His masterpiece! You are made in His image and His best idea…a unique reflection of His nature! How wildly amazing is that when you really think about it!?
I am not perfect and sometimes I still stumble on this journey of fully finding my validation in God. But, I am trusting Him day by day as He walks with me and I am here to support you wherever you may be too. Because in Christ there is acceptance and unconditional love and I’d say that’s pretty beautiful.
“I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well.” -psalm 139:15
