Written By: Luisa Parish
Put your make up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim so they like you,
do they like you?
- ‘Try’ by Colbie Caillat
I’m pretty sure everyone at one time or another feels a sense of pressure: pressure to be what the world deems as worthy to be loved, accepted, and cherished. The problem with this is that the world’s view is sadly warped. As a woman I feel pressure all the time to look and act a certain way and, over time, this pressure continues to grow.
When I look around I am sure that many others feel this way. Even celebrities, who we watch and try to model ourselves after, are tired of the standards that the world has placed on them. Many actresses have even gone on the cover of magazines without any makeup or digital alterations. Colbie Caillat wrote a song about it stressing her frustrations with the idea of living up to someone else’s standards. The end result of living that way ends the same way each time: miserable and empty.
A 20 year old woman in the states was tired of always trying to measure up, so on January 1st she put away her makeup bag and has committed to going makeup free for a year. She states…
"Like most women in this country, I don't consider myself beautiful. As my makeup collection grew and my self-esteem continued to shrink, I wondered: Did the makeup help? Makeup is only part of today's beauty culture, but it is especially relevant because it is used almost exclusively by women. I decided to conduct an experiment. I allowed myself one more glamorous, long-lashed, red-lipped night out for New Year's Eve. Then, beginning Jan. 1, I put away my bag of cosmetics for a year."
She went on to say that it was “embarrassing” and “uncomfortable” at first but she’s pushing through. It’s been 200 plus days and when asked how this experiment was going she said, “I still don’t exactly see myself as beautiful, but I care a whole lot less.”
That breaks my heart. My desire for women is not to get to the point were we just don’t care any more. I want complete and total healing of our self-image through Jesus Christ.
Sure we can take a stand, we can try social experiments etc, but that won’t heal our hearts unless we deal with the issue at hand. The issue, simply put, is that somewhere along the way we believed a lie. We believed the lie that if we don’t fit into to the world’s definition of “pretty”, then we aren’t loveable, special, or important. As we grow, we believe that lie more and more until it affects how we view ourselves and live out our lives.
I remember the moment when a lie was written on my heart…I was in the 7th grade and had a crush on this guy. Back then you would convince your bestie to go and ‘ask him out’ for you. Now why she decided to tell me this I don’t understand, but she said his friend told him “Eww don’t go out with her!” Boom! Instantly I believed that I was ugly and that my looks were all that mattered! “Who cares what kind of person I was?” I thought. I wasn’t pretty enough so that meant I wasn’t good enough.
Thankfully the story doesn’t end there. God so loving showed me the truth.
"You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."
– Genesis 16:13
I hope that you open your heart to receive these truths today! Bare your heart to the Lord. Tell him your hurts and your struggles and let him show you the truth, how He see’s you!
That’s why I love scripture. It’s a daily reminder of God’s love and through him we are whole!
Here are some examples of how God views us and who He tells us we are!
We are made in His image:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
- Genesis 1:27
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
- 1 Peter 2:9
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
- Ephesians 2:10
We are righteous and holy:
“And to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
- Ephesians 4:24
We have been born again by the Holy Spirit:
“Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”
- John 3:3-6
We are saved by grace as a gift, not because of our performance.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”
- Ephesians 2:8
“He has made everything beautiful in his time”
- Ecclesiastes 3:11
My prayer for you is that even in your brokenness God’s love for you shines through the darkness you are in! Let him heal you, it may be painful to admit but the payoff it so much sweeter than the bitterness the world will leave you with!
Praying that you'd have the heart to fight
'Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
They are nothing in the shadow of the cross
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful
- “Beautiful” by MercyMe
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