Last night’s Birthday Ball and Talent Show was a huge hit with the girls. Hosting 41 girls for a party at our house provided Margaret and me a distraction from the mundane duties that consume our more routine days. I worked in the yard, cleaned pollen from the porch furniture, hung the big banner in the game room, and swept the floors. Margaret worked on the table decorations, placecards, buffet layout, and party favors. Team work makes the Dream work, as they say! The girls were thrilled to be the guests of honor at such a nice party and afterwards we all went down to the Pavilion to enjoy the show. What a night! Everyone had a great time.
Today I touched on a Breakfast Club topic that I care deeply about. It always chokes me up at some point when talking to the girls, for it is something that I know is a subject that is painful for many of them… Body Image.
Most of us obsess over this topic, spending way too much time and treasure focusing on how we look. It’s a tricky thing to avoid. The world tells us this is a very important subject, so we constantly worry about how we look, what we weigh, and if we’re “beautiful.” These standards change frequently and are often irresistible (especially for girls). But here at Greystone, we’re after something much deeper, much truer, and far more lasting. When God sees you, He doesn’t say, “Hmm, I wish I’d made her taller.” He doesn’t wonder if you’d look better with different hair or a different nose. He looks at you (every bit of you) and says, “She is fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Our reminder, taken from the most reliable source available, is simple: be thankful for how you look. You do not have to fit into a specific dress to be worthy. Your freckles are fantastic, your height is just right, and your shape is amazing. The way we look is not important – at least it is not to God. He made us exactly the way we are intentionally, and He does not make mistakes. He created us in every detail, including our bodily details and looks. This was true for Himself when He became a man two thousand years ago. Surely, that was a detail he cared about, yet he made an unlikely choice for His looks.
We don’t know what Jesus looked like from the Gospel accounts – none of them even mention his physical appearance. In the whole Bible, that detail (that is so important to us) is only mentioned one time. Isaiah 53:2, which says He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Remember this when you are tempted by the lies told (by yourself or others) about physical appearance. Beauty is fleeting and of no importance. You are loved and beautiful based on your heart and actions, not your face. Grow every day like Jesus did… and be thankful for the way you look. The best part of you has nothing to do with what you see in the mirror. It’s the fact that you’re created exactly the way God meant you to be. You’re beautiful just the way you are.