A Little Catching Up...

I've had a lot on my mind in the last few weeks....and I am behind in letting go of the lies...or maybe not really behind so much as needing to spend some time on a couple of them.  It's hard to say certain things about yourself, isn't it?  Without thinking that someone will think you are vain or that you think too highly of yourself?

Once when I was a child, someone told me that I looked pretty.  My response?  "I know!," with a grin on my face.  Now a four-year-old has little concept of vanity...but my lesson that day was that it was NOT ok to agree with that statement, but instead to say "Thank you" and leave it at that.  I have since felt uncomfortable if someone tells me I am pretty.  I deny any beauty someone comments on in reference to me.  I might look in the mirror and initially think "Hey, I look pretty good today,"  and then immediately chide myself for thinking such a thing.

I remember watching the Miss USA or Miss Universe pageants as a young girl...imagining myself walking across the stage in a beautiful dress, wearing a crown....or Disney movies about a princess, beautiful and beloved by her knight in shining armor or Prince Charming....wanting to be that beautiful winner or princess.

I remember so many times as a teenager and young adult being out with a beautiful friend...watching how the eyes of the boys we met would pass over me and focus in on my friend instead.  And I began to believe that I was not beautiful, but was instead invisible.  Many quiet Friday nights home alone while my friends were out attested to that, as well.

And the father of lies would whisper in my ear....and I would believe him.  It's only in the last few months that I have started to chip away at that lie.  To know in my heart that whether anyone else thinks I am beautiful or even whether I do, is not as important as what my King and Heavenly Father thinks.  He made me.  And it's not what I look like physically...but that light of Jesus, the blood of Jesus that washes me clean...that makes me beautiful.  When God looks at me, He doesn't see the ugly mess of humanity and sin...instead, He sees a reflection of Jesus' beauty.  He sees His own handiwork and creativity...and He says "It is good."

I am not invisible.  I am not ugly.  I am a beautiful Princess of the King of Kings.  Beloved by the King.  And I don't need to be embarrassed by that or self-conscious of it.  As one created by the Creator of the universe, washed clean by the Savior of mankind, I can instead claim it, believe it.  Stand tall, chin up, face forward  - I am a beautiful daughter of the King. 

And you know what?  You are beautiful, too.  My sisters in Christ, we are all inheritors of the kingdom...beautiful, beloved Princesses.  My brothers in Christ, you are heirs of the King of Heaven...a reflection of Christ to the world.  Will you accept that?  Will you look in the mirror and see the beauty He created in you?!  Look at yourself with His eyes and tell me what you see.....listen to His truth and let go of the lies.