I hope you all have had an amazing week! This one is dedicated to all females out there!
Did you know that according to research done by Dove:
- Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful
- Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable using the word beautiful to describe themselves
- 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful
- 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty
- More than half of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic
Am I the only one who can relate to these statistics?
All my life I've been told I was beautiful by my family and other people, but I never really believed it. No matter who said it I could never convince myself that I was beautiful. This is crazy to admit because I have always been confident in myself except for this. I always thought my friends and everyone else was way prettier. Of course if you ask Shane what he thinks about being beautiful he just says, "Show them a picture of me and they will know what being beautiful looks like." Of course you can never listen to guys!! This all led me to think about how people define the word beautiful. Today's society defines it as a person who has outer beauty, slim figure, and no flaws. In the book of Ether (my favorite book in the bible) it talks about the demands of being beautiful.
On the seventh day, when the king was feeling good from wine, Ahasuerus commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who personally served him, to being Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious and his anger burned. (Esther 1:10-12)
When everyone heard that the queen refused the king it caused chaos and it angered the king, he then banished Queen Vashti from his presence and her position would be given to a woman more worthy and she. So in comes Esther, who was adopted by her Jewish uncle Mordicai. She "won the approval in the sight of everyone who saw her." (Esther 2:15) She was the most beautiful in every way. However it isn't till the end that she reveals her true beauty. She is the most beautiful when she stands up for what is right and saves many jewish lives. That inner beauty that she showed was far more precious than her outer beauty. You see God doesn't care what you look like!
Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hair styles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart with imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in Gods eyes. (1 Peter 3:3-4)
This verse was referring to wives and you might be one, but I do believe that this can refer to everyone! This is hard because I do love to look nice because I just do! But before I look nice, I try and make sure my heart looks nice also. I do this by examining my heart and the things that only God knows. I ask for forgiveness for each sin and pray that I show kindness to everyone I come in contact with, we never know what that person might be going through.
I challenge you to find your beauty in God and in your heart and I promise your inward beauty will shine so bright that you don't even notice what you look like! I still work on this but together with God we can overcome it! I encourage you to first talk to God and allow Him to work, then talk to someone if you are lost and feeling worthless because you aren't! You were made for this world just like the beautiful Esther! God has a mighty plan for you!
you are loved, you are forgiven, you are BEAUTIFUL
His daughter,
Starla Conroy
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