You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Solomon 4:7
Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. Who are "they"? Who gets to decide what the parameters are for beauty? Somewhere, somehow, someone came up with the definition of beauty and it stuck. I think we can all agree on the beauty of some things, like a beautiful sunset or sunrise, the beauty of nature, or the vast beauty of the ocean. But what happens when we try to agree on the beauty of us, of people? Society tells us that we are supposed to look a certain way, weigh a certain amount, dress a certain way in order to be beautiful. Our youth are plagued with wanting to be beautiful, but the parameters are near impossible to meet. I read a quote the other day by the philosopher and teacher, Confucius, that said, "Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it." While that may be true for us, we must know that God always sees beauty, our beauty.
I, myself, have struggled my whole life over beauty - how to reach it, how to hold on to it, how to be more like those that have it. But over the last five years, my mindset about this has changed. For those of you that don't know, I have had breast cancer. It's been an amazing journey, for God taught me so much. I think one of the biggest things I learned is about beauty, so that's why I have such a passion for what it really is. I certainly haven't reached the place I need to be on this issue. My struggles are still real. They are still hard, and I am constantly trying to be a better version of myself for the Lord. But I see young people and old people alike not liking themselves because of stigmas society has placed upon us. Let me explain.
This week alone I have had two separate stories told to me about young women who do not realize their beauty in the eyes of the Lord. One mom said that her daughter struggles with no self-esteem, that she equates her self-worth and beauty on something her first boyfriend told her. The other mom told me that her daughter struggles because she's shy and feels like she doesn't fit in. Oh my goodness, this just gets my heart pumping! So many thoughts go through my heart and my head so quickly that my mouth can't keep up with what I want to say. You see, when I had cancer, I had markings over my body to mark the radiation site. I had scars from when I had numerous surgeries. My skin was red from the burning of the radiation. I got shingles three times in one year because of the stress. I was so tired, and I looked tired. I was weary, and I looked weary. Every time I looked in the mirror, I didn't like what I saw. I didn't feel like myself, or look like myself, so I never felt beautiful. Ever. Not. Ever. I admit that at the time I didn't care so much because I was too busy fighting to realize what I was really thinking when I looked in the mirror. But you know what? I did care. I was paying attention. I was learning the truth that God was teaching me through this time of my life. It's just taken some time for it to sink in.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:14, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well." This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because I think it speaks so much about how God feels about us. I did some research and found that in the original Hebrew text of the Bible, the word fearfully means, "with great reverence, heart-felt interest and with respect." The word wonderfully means, "unique, set apart, marvelous." So God is saying with great reverence, heart-felt interest and respect, "I have set you apart and made you unique and marvelous." Wow! So for all of you, know that you are unique and wonderful and marvelous and set apart because God made you to be who you are. Genesis 1:27 tells us, "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them." We are all created in the image of our Almighty Savior.
This year while on vacation we ran across a painting in a restaurant that I fell in love with immediately. It says simply, "in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus." I asked the manager of the restaurant if she would be willing to sell it to us and she said yes. I was so happy! I came home and placed it on the wall beside my bed so that when I woke up each day that's the first thing I see. It's a daily reminder to me that all I need is Jesus. Every morning when I rise, I need Jesus. I have His love and acceptance of me and that's all I need.
Isaiah 60:1 says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." We need to let our light shine. Our light is Jesus, and we are to shine it for all to see. We cannot shine our lights if we think we're ugly. We cannot shine our lights if we think we're not good enough. We cannot shine our lights if we think we don't measure up to the person next to us. No, God made us to be us. So to the mom who has the daughter that has no self-esteem, let's pray she can rise up and realize that her self-worth is in Jesus. To the mom of the daughter who feels like a misfit because she's shy, let's pray she can rise up and realize that her shyness could be God's way of making her compassionate, having and wanting a heart more like Jesus. Let's pray we all learn to rise up and let our lights shine for Jesus because underneath what we see in the mirror, and underneath what we think people see when they look at us, is a warrior. If we know Christ as our Savior, the Bible tells us nothing is impossible with God. We are created in the very image of a God that created the entire universe. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here." Let us not look at ourselves and see fault. God sent His only son Jesus to die on a cross for us so that we may have eternal life. This is the greatest form of love there is. Let's rise up and be warriors for Christ, using how He made us the way He intended us to use it. No matter if we're shy or outgoing, tall or short, big or small, a talker or a great listener, He made us this way on purpose, for His purpose! Embrace it! Don't try to be someone you're not because you're supposed to be exactly who you are. Build on it. Ask God to help you see what He sees. Proverbs 3:15 says, "She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." He loves us with an ever-lasting, unconditional love. So let's rise up together and accept each other and love each other and encourage each other to be who we have been created to be. Rise up and be a warrior in who God created you to be. You are altogether beautiful, my love. All the time.
I love you all,
Kacey
