Jesus says,
“I created you.
I had a plan and a purpose for you life even before you were a dream in your parents’ subconscious.
You are beautiful.
You are wonderfully made.
I knit you together, stitch by stitch, placing every limb, every bone, every organ, exactly where I wanted them.
I make no mistakes.
When I was forming the land and the sea,
the birds and the fish,
the sun, moon, and stars,
the animals and plants,
I wanted to save the best for last.
I created man in my image, but I knew it was not good for him to live on his own.
Though Adam knew no different, I knew he would not be complete without a counterpart.
Together, the two would more perfectly display my qualities.
He would be strong.
She would be sensitive.
He would rule with power.
She would reign with grace.
They would fit perfectly together and, in my image and because of the capacity I gave them to love, they would be given the ability to create life.
And so, I created you.
As a woman, you came from man, because the two of you were made to be reliant and inseparable.
You were given my image, my glory.
It is in you that I display my breathtaking beauty.
You are the crown of creation.
Only then did I say, ‘It is very good.’
And yet you reject the very body I created.
You look in the mirror and ignore all that is perfect and look only at what you wish to change.
You see flaws.
I see unique beauty.
You complain.
You believe the lies Satan whispers in your ear, telling you how ugly you are, how you are too fat or too skinny, or how you’d be better if only you had that jean size or that cup size or that hair color.
And the more you listen to his deceit, the more difficult it becomes for you to hear my gentle voice.
I weep when I see you degrade yourself.
I am saddened when you don’t trust my Truths.
I make no mistakes.
I made you wonderfully–exactly as I intended.
What right does the creation have to question the wisdom the Creator?
NONE!
Believe me when I say I take great delight in you.
I rejoice over YOU with singing.
Embrace my all surpassing love.
Know it as yours and float in it.”
And today, Dear Friends, I offer this prayer for each one who knows the lies all too well.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the saints,
to grasp how wide
and long
and high
and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
–Learning to embrace my beauty,
Melanie
This post was originally posted We Chase the Son (the devotional blog of my husband and me), and is also participating in Project 31 at She Breathes Deeply.
I hope you dont mind me linking this on my FB and Twitter because this is beautiful Melanie. I have the same heart for women and girls to see their value and their beauty and that the Lord loves them just as they are today. Not after they lose weight, get a better job, become a better person, etc. It has really been on my heart for the last year or so. Thank you :)
Such great encouragement! You should read the book "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldridge if you haven't checked it out yet. It's right along the same lines it seems like God is speaking to you right now:)
so beautiful and encouraging! Thanks for posting this!
Thank you for writing, Ms. Melanie! That was a post that I desperately needed to hear — the Lord spoke through you tonight. Many blessings & much love!
That was beautiful, Melanie. :o)