When was the last time you gave yourself any praise and really meant it? It's hard to love ourselves, isn't it? How ludicrous that in such a sinful, godless time, society places such tremendous pressure on us to be perfect in every way. We have to be everything to everyone and still be true to ourselves. We have to do everything for everyone and still have time for ourselves. We have to have the perfect attitudes, the perfect bodies, etc. No wonder we always feel inadequate, inferior, or incomplete.

The good news is that we don't have to walk under such aggressive pressure because we don't have to answer to the world. We have to answer to God alone. Jesus said not to follow after the world's demands because they would crush us, but rather to follow after Him because His yoke was easy and His burden light. (Matt 11:30) Okay, so you're not as attractive or as thin as you'd like to be. So you don't have a ton of expensive clothes, a fab car, three-story mansion, etc. What does that really matter? Are you going to allow society to control who you are? Don't you know that you are created to be beautiful? So what if society doesn't praise you because you're not a product of its plastic, robotic system? Society doesn't own you, God does, and He thinks you are so incredibly beautiful that He gave His perfect son for you.

We have to realize that even though we aren't crazy about every little detail of ourselves, it's important that we still like ourselves for who we are because there's only one of us and believe it or not we are here for a specific purpose. Don't let the devil beat you up day after day by trying to embarrass you or make you feel unworthy. Remind Him that God's opinion is the only one that counts and He thinks you look just fine. Need proof? Whose image and likeness are you made in? That's why the devil hates you so much because you look like your Father, and that's why he's trying so hard to take your confidence away. It's time to start taking back your power. Get in front of a mirror every day and confess that you love yourself and from now on you're going to be more gentle and accepting of yourself. The more you allow God to show you the truth about yourself, the sooner your confidence will pick up and the more peace you will have. Stnading in front of that mirror is not silly. Feeling bad about yourself is what's silly. So go now and give it a try. Remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

The Independent 15
April, 2007