When I was younger I used to measure my beauty on a scale of 1-10 based on Disney princesses. When I was a teenager I based it on celebrities and movie characters, when I was 18 I based my beauty scale of 1-10 on my friends and what they wore or didn’t wear. Now that I’m older, people seem to think that the less makeup you wear, the less fat you have, the less clothes you wear, is the new beauty measurement scale.

It seems that we all have a way of measuring how beautiful we are. We overly compare ourselves to other people, things and trends… It’s hard to look at yourself in the mirror and not notice something wrong. Our legs aren’t thin enough, our face is flawed, our hair isn’t perfect, our outfit seems out of date. We could go on and on all day about what we wish was different about our appearance.

Did you know that we all have our own personal beauty measuring scales?

When I look in the mirror or at my clothes I always think “something’s missing” or “why can’t my ___ look like ____’s?” For others, it could be a friend, a comment made that has stuck in your mind for years, or a certain celebrity, a movie character, a new fashion style, or a magazine; the list is endless. In the back of our minds we are thinking that beautiful girls (Or people we esteem in our minds to be more beautiful than we are) are more important or worth more to the general public than we are! This is one of Satans biggest lies to girls and women of ALL ages.

Have you been a victim of this lie? Have you ever thought that good-looking people are more important than you? More popular than you? Smarter than you? It’s easy to think this way because the media has portrayed this mindset to our generation tirelessly. They throw it at us through films, songs, books, magazines, news articles, social media and through so many different sources.

When we look at ourselves and measure our beauty based on someone else we are unknowingly criticizing our creator.

We are saying that there is something wrong with our appearance and that is saying that God did something wrong when He created us. Surly we don’t really mean this when we think of it in that aspect. But in reality, we still wish we had better features, cooler clothes, prettier hair ect.

Here’s a new thought: Jesus has no “Beauty Measuring Scale”! He doesn’t hold a beauty measuring stick up to us like the world does. He created BEAUTY! God is the most imaginative, creative, Being in the universe and He calls us His most prized possession, His masterpiece, His workmanship, His beautiful poem. Yes, our lives are being handwritten by the creator of the universe and He has sketched the perfect image of you.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Eph. 2:10

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

God’s Word makes it clear that we are all beautiful to Him. Nothing He made is flawed. We just have a perfect made up image in our minds of ourselves that doesn’t really exist. We hold a man-made, culture approved, measuring stick to ourselves and all it does is tear us down and remind us of how imperfect we are. This then leads us to make ungodly choices about our apparel, causes discontentment, and breeds selfishness and pride.

What can we do to see ourselves the way God sees us on a daily basis?

About a year ago I was so disappointed with my appearance at one point that I stopped eating, I never smiled in the mirror, I avoided looking at myself or taking pictures. It was horrible. I had become so consumed with an imaginary image of myself that I could never measure up to being in real life that I had given up on my true image all together. Have you ever felt that way before?

I had to renew my mindset. I needed a new vision of myself-and not one that I could create. I started with reality. Here are a few ways that God helped me start seeing myself as beautiful-truly beautiful.

1. Verbal affirmation: One day, I looked at myself in the mirror and began thanking God for all the parts of me that I knew really were beautiful. I would say something like: “Jesus, thank you for giving me beautiful eyes.” Or, “Thank you Lord for making my lips so pretty.” This was not out of pride. I wasn’t being boastful about my features. This was just a way to renew my mindset about how God made me. It starts out by taking your eyes off the bad and thanking God for the good. (Even though every part of you is beautiful!) Try it-it works wonders!
2. Inner Beauty-the purest form of treasure: When I was unsure of the way God made me, I was only looking at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. And I know you’ve heard this a million times but have you ever thought of your character and spirit as your inner beauty? Ask Jesus to show you your inner beauty. Ask Him practically. “Jesus, I don’t think I have a gentle quiet spirit. Would you please show me ways in which I really do have that though?” Or “Lord, please show me the ways in which I am loving”. This will help us focus on the areas in our heart that are beautiful or that need work. It’s good application work!
3. Mentality check: Take a look inside of your thought life. Are you filling it with lusts for beauty? Are you feeding your thoughts with feelings of inadequacy based on images from Pinterest? Instagram? Facebook? Or Magazines? It’s time to clean up! Rid yourself of things that bring you down or make you feel insecure. Why would you go on torturing yourself with theses things if you could easily be free of them? Take a break from the things that are making you feel unworthy. Will you begin cleaning out the closet of your mind that is full of worldly opinions and beauty measurements?
4. Fill up on Scripture: Begin fueling your mind and heart with Gods Word. He alone can satisfy you. He calls you beautiful and special in every way. He would never compare you to someone else. Spend time getting to know Him better by spending time with Him, worshiping Him, reading about others who’s lives were changed by Him. This makes you beautiful too! Psalms 34:5 says “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.” See!

Remember, the heart is what is most important to Jesus:

“But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.'” 1 Sam 16:7

I hope this article has been encouraging and challenging! Take some time to answer the questions below in the comments…I’d love to hear from you.

-Have you ever held up a self-created image of yourself to your physical appearance before?
-Have you ever thought good-looking people were better than you in any way?
-Do you take Jesus at His Word when He calls you His masterpiece?

Much love! Have a blessed day gorgeous girl!