Hang on, isn’t that a compliment?
Sure, it is.
If I see one more post on social media about how “blessed” someone is because their wife/husband/partner is hot, I’ll have to write a devotion about it (wink)!
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Don’t get me wrong: this is not an insecure thing. I think my husband is handsome, and I call him hot all the time. We should be attracted to our loves. This is a, “are our values in check” thing. What world are we creating with our words? One where men and women, boys and girls, learn to value themselves and others primarily on their looks? An image driven world? Or one that values brain activity? Critical thought? Hard work? Learning and character and love and inclusion?
I say to my daughter that yes, she is beautiful. But having people think you’re attractive is not the point. Not even close. There is so much more to life than looks. You have a brain, use it. You have a heart, open it. You have hands, extend them. Value people for their humanness, not their hotness.
And dear friend, let me say this to you:
No matter where you think you are on the scale of beauty; whether you get called pretty, whether you feel ugly or attractive or somewhere in between, you are down right beautiful. Why? Because you are a unique human being.
As Dr Seuss says, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” You’re it, babe, friend, person reading this. You are the only you who has ever been and who will ever be. You are a unique picture, reflection, representation of the Divine. God is threaded in you and through you like his through no one else.
I tell my daughter that what makes people beautiful is their heart. And if we could learn to see people’s hearts, behind all the disorder and baggage (even because of it), you’ll glimpse true beauty. It’s what I love most about the movie Moana when she sings to the beast: “They have stolen the heart from inside you, but this does not define you. This is not who you are. You know who you are.” And afterward, when the grotesque beast is reminded of who she truly is, an incredible transformation takes place revealing beauty buried deep.
Pretty is not the rent we pay to exist in the world.
If you want to see beauty, get off Facebook and Instagram and Twitter, talk to the person sitting next to you and look at them. Then, look in the mirror.
(True Beauty series in the works… I'm a little fired up.)
Written by Liz Milani
I'm in the process of having my eyes opened to some things related to this subject. I have recently passed through a very difficult season of life. I've been struggling with anxiety. More specifically I was afraid of rejection. I was assuming no one really liked me at all but was too nice to tell me how they really felt. I feel like God led me to several resources that showed me how my lack of self-acceptance was killing my self-esteem. Your recommendation for Headspace was a big part of this recovery. Thank you! Anyway, as I became aware of this self-criticism, I started to realize how judgmental I was being of others as well. There was this constant evaluation going on in my head. Attractive, unattractive, smart, nice, heavy, strange, sweet, beautiful, angry, compassionate… On and on… I've come to realize that this uconscious labeling of myself and others was a sort of bondage/blindness that kept me from living in the present. Once I was able to re-awaken to the fact that I am good because I am a part of Jesus and He is in me, then I was able to crawl out of that dark hole into the light. Self-acceptance in Christ comes with amazing freedom to love others as God intends us to do on His behalf. I'm sorry, there is so much and I'm trying to pack it onto a short message. I think it all comes down to the fact that the evil one uses this world to keep us down by telling us we are not enough. All the while God is showing us that we are enough. Enough that He was willing to pay the ultimate price for each one of us. Please let me know if you would like to discuss further. Take care!