Beautiful

Do you know that you are beautiful? I know as women, most of us have struggled with this at some point in our lives. Maybe for some of us, it's a constant battle.

Society has a picture of what beautiful is. Unfortunately this picture isn't realistic. Most of the photos we see of actresses or super models (the ones we perceive as beautiful) are airbrushed or photoshopped. A lot of these women have eating disorders and are terribly unhealthy on the inside. For the ones who are healthy, most of them probably have personal trainers and chefs.

For a lot of these women, their "beauty" is only skin deep. Physical beauty is superficial. We need to strive to be beautiful on the inside. 

I love this quote by Kahlil Gibran. “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” <3

So, what does beautiful on the inside look like? We need to love one another, we need to put others first, we need to love others as we love ourselves, we need to be loving, caring, compassionate & kind, etc. As my daddy always taught me, be a friend that a friend would want to have. :) We should be positive, happy and have an amazing attitude & personality, etc, etc, etc....this list could go on & on, but I am sure you got the idea!

For those of us who have children, how would you feel if your child thought or said that they are ugly? To us parents, our children are the most beautiful children we've ever seen! It would break my heart if my daughters thought these lies of themselves! How much then do you think it hurts our Heavenly Father when we believe these things of ourselves? We are created in the image of God and He doesn't make junk! God sees each one of us as a masterpiece & He wants us to know that! Psalm 139:14 says I praise you because I am fearfully & wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

For those of you struggling with this, you need to replace this lie with the truth. The truth is you are beautiful whether you think so or not....YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! My hubby once challenged me with this exercise. Every morning look in the mirror at yourself and say, "I am beautiful!" Let me tell you this is not an easy thing to do at all! The first time I tried it I couldn't even get the words out and I burst into tears. It's still not the easiest exercise, but I'm getting better at it. If you speak this truth out loud to yourself enough, you will definitely start to believe it! You will probably feel silly, but that's ok! Just replace the lie with the truth! You can do it!

So, to all you beautiful women out there, go out and find the beauty today...in yourself and in others! You can do this!