Monday, October 22, 2007

Harsh words...

I'm going to say some things that may sound kind of harsh, but I believe that they need to be addressed. To anyone who thinks I am writing personally to them I am not, so you can lay that thought aside right now. I'm writing this because I think every single girl needs to understand these things.

Your worth is not determined by how you think you look. You do not say if you are attractive or not.

That being said I will explain that confusing statement. If I were to say to you that you ARE lovely and that God made you exactly the way you are FOR A REASON, what would you say to me?

What if I quoted this verse to you? "All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you." Song of Solomon 4:7

What would your reaction be? Let's say that I specifically gave YOU that verse, what is the first thing that came in to your mind? Didn't you immediately have a defensive reaction and think, "No flaw?! Pshaw... What about my hair? What about my weight? What about me teeth? I DO have flaws!"

Didn't you think that? I know that excuse came to my mind. Yeah, I just said excuse.

You do not choose whether you are beautiful or not. God made YOU lovely. He specifically picked your eyes (blue, brown, green, hazel, deep and dark, bright), your noise (thin, long, short....), your cheekbones (prominent, wide, long...), your hair (frizzy, straight, thin, thick, curly, wavy..), He chose all of them to be unified in you. There is no one like you.

He has given you a personality, He picked it out for you.

What if I told you that the verse I quoted about "All beautiful you are.... There is no flaw in you." what if I said that God saw you like that. Flawless. Every part of you as beautiful. No tooth in the wrong place, no moles in the wrong spot, no weird looking toes.

God values distinctness. He values your beauty. YOU are an expression of His creativity! How can the pottery say to the Potter that they should not be shaped in a certain way? You have no choice in the way that God thinks about you. And He thinks that you are beautiful.

I'm not innocent and perfect in the way that I view myself. I fail and start criticizing my Maker's plans for me. He has taken me a long way however. Three years ago my self esteem was pretty much just blaaaah. I thought I could never be as pretty as the girls that I hung out with, after all they wore a size 2 and had boys following them around. I believed the lie that I was not and never would be beautiful. As time went on God showed me how I really look. I still see myself with a critical eye, always finding one more fault in me. But there has been a change in me. I've learned that I am beautiful and that God has made me that way.

He has also revealed to me the extent of how horribly girls feel about themselves. For instance when I watch a movie with a friend of mine she makes comments about the lead actress, something wrong with her nose or something.. All in attempt to make herself feel more beautiful.

No one should try to make themselves feel beautiful by pushing others down. Every girl is beautiful.

"The west has found a gun and it’s loaded with ‘unsure’
Nip and tuck if you have the bucks in a race to find a cure.
Psalm one hundred and thirty nine is the conscience to our selfish crime,
God didn’t screw up when he made you,
He’s a father who loves to parade you."
Our God Reigns by Delirious?

God did not screw up when He made you. I can't make you believe that, He has to show you that and I pray that your heart would be open to Him. He will show you many wonderful things about how He made you and also about Himself.

Remember that He loves to parade you, He knows that you are beautiful. Think about it.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Elyse. I needed to hear this and be reminded about this.

Father Cory said...

Agh! Would that all females of the world would echo this sentiment!

And from my experience and observations, girls that parade themselves and dress in certain ways and wear way too much makeup only attract the trash guys who only want to have sex with them. I have found the ones who make a stand for their personal beauty are the ones who attract the right guys, the ones who will honor you, the ones that are worth your time. You will be respected more if you respect yourself.

Way to go, Mousepad. You are an inspiration.

Walls Down Church Kids said...

Keep it coming and keep passing this stuff on!! You are so right!

Elyse said...

Thanks guys and you're welcome Betsy. :)

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm. Thanks a bunch, Elyse. I think every girl needs to hear that every once and a while. If only everyone could hear, but also understand.