U R Beautiful

You're Beautiful; you’re beautiful it's true. From the words of James Blunt, which I happen to be listening to right now that it might inspire me to write this blog post, you’re beautiful. How many of you out in the blogisphere have ever felt the opposite of beautiful? I certainly cannot count on my fingers and toes how many times I have felt ugly whether inside and out. I think all of us struggle with a desire to be beautiful, especially in the eyes of someone we like or love. We want to be beautiful. We want to feel beautiful and we want others to see us as beautiful and because of this desire so often we compromise our identity, our image and ultimately our beauty by trying to be beautiful in the eyes of another. Let me give you an example.

In 8th grade I was in "love" with this girl. I wanted so badly for her to like me yet every feeble attempt to do so failed. I changed the way I dressed, talked, and acted. I even changed my likes and dislikes to try and get this girl to like me. I wrapped up whether or not I was beautiful in this one girl and in doing so wrapped up my image and identity in her. When she ended up wanting nothing to do with me I was crushed. Not only did I not think I was beautiful, but because my identity and image was in her, I didn't know who I was or was supposed to be. As Matthew 10:39 says, whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. NIV. What does this mean? It means that if we try to find our beauty, image, identity i.e. life in another person, in an occupation, hobby, sport and on and on we will lose our life... our identity, beauty, image. BUT! If we lose our life to Him, if we say, "God I surrender trying to find myself in everything else and I lose my self in you," we will find our life, image, identity and beauty.

U R beautiful! We cannot look to others and other things for our beauty, identity and image. We've got to lose our self to Christ and in doing so find life. U R beautiful! You are made in the image of God, by the hands of God, according to His perfect design. You are perfect in His eyes and He calls you beautiful. Lose yourself in Him.