You Were Created Beautiful!

Do you ever strive to be someone you're not? Have you ever wanted to be accepted, to fit in as one of the crowd? Have you ever felt like you weren't beautiful, liked and loved? Because of that, have you ever felt like you "needed" to lose "that amount" of weight? "Needed" a tan? "Needed" to look that way? "Needed" this and that to be popular, to fit in, to be beautiful? Have you ever tried to be someone you really are not?

All of these questions are pretty tough, and you know what? We all have struggled with something similar, if not exactly what I have listed, even myself. "I need to lose some weight, I need a tan, (even though I'm a redhead and I can't tan, so all my efforts have been in vain.) I need to look like that, like those girls, like those "models." Why is that? Let's go to the heart of the matter.

We all want to be noticed, to look beautiful, to catch attention, to shine out (not in the way we are supposed to though) to be someone glamorous, etc. (come on, be honest) All of these reasons (plus more) are all absolutely wrong, no question about it. The one listed, "to shine forth", is one we are supposed to do, just not in the way we want. We are supposed to shine forth Christ, not ourselves, not our looks, and especially not our "goodness". He alone is good, and worthy...we are not.

So, the issue is that we want to be noticed, to be accepted as beautiful. But want to know something? We are! We are accepted as beautiful, maybe not in the worlds eyes, but we are in God's eyes! God made each and every one of us different, but He also made us all in the way He wanted us to be! He loves us exactly the way we are, therefore we should rejoice, be glad, and live life to the fullest! We should say as the Psalmist, "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth." (Psalms 139:14) God Himself created us down to the very last detail exactly the way He had planned from the beginning. So then, why should we keep trying to look like girls out of fashion magazines? After all, those girls are "made-up", "computer-generized", "touched-up", and made to look like they're perfect, when they really aren't. True, some (and maybe most) are very slim and skinny, but that is because they don't eat, and they work out constantly! They are starving themselves and hurting their bodies.

God made us all the way we are, so we shouldn't try to change that. We should accept that fact, and rejoice that we have life! After all, the King of kings created us, the LORD of lords thought of us to make us beautiful and unique. We are all special in some way, even though it may be different. But if we were all the same, what joy would there be in life? Everyone would look the same, act the same, and be the same, instead of the different varieties. OK, say this: What if every store only made and sold vanilla ice cream? Wouldn't that be kinda boring? Not everybody loves only plain vanilla ice cream, everybody has different tastes and likes. Isn't that the way it is with people too? (OK, not a very good example, I know) If there weren't a variety of people the world, it would be boring.

So let us make the most of who we are, live our life for Christ, and truly be happy and satisfied with who we are! Shine for Christ! Show the world that we can, and will, be different! "I will PRAISE Thee! For I am fearfully and WONDERFULLY made!"