As children, we loved who we were. We accepted who we were. It wasn’t until we got older and started comparing ourselves to others, hearing what society and media told us, and criticizing ourselves that we started to loose love for who we are.
This year, during Valentine’s week, I challenge you to start the process of loving yourself. For every critique that you hear in your mind, counter it with something that you like about yourself. Start selling your good qualities to yourself.
Every time that you begin to compare yourself to someone else, no matter the reason, stop yourself and say something good about you.
I think that we all have a ‘HER’ in our lives. The girl that we all want to be like. The girl that seems to have it all together, has the best style, a great sense of humor, looks exactly what we want to look like, and seems to be the life of the party. That girls seems smarter than us, more daring, more fun and just… better.
We spend our time comparing ourselves to her. We analyze what she does and how she does it. This time spent comparing is going to have consequences. You may end up hating her out of jealousy and bitterness because you want to be like her so badly. Or, you might end up hating yourself and trying to copy everything she does to try to change who you are.
Here’s the thing- you aren’t ever going to be like her. You can copy her style, you can follow some ridiculous ‘diet’, you can speak like her, you can try to act like her… but you will never be her. And she will never be you.
Hating someone only fills you with bitterness. And that bitterness, whether you like it or not, will flow out of your heart with words from your mouth.
When you accept that you are exactly who you are meant to be, you can start learning WHO that is. Because that girl… she’s amazing too! She has skills and qualities that are waiting to be discovered. She has a capacity to be confident in who God created her to be. She is beautiful and wonderful in her own unique way. She’s not her… she’s you. And the YOU that God created is amazing.
When are you going to accept that you are amazing?
When are you going to accept that you are perfect the exact way that God created you?
If you could stop, for just a minute and really take stock of your talents, abilities and gifts, you would stop the comparison right then.
I urge you, this week, to write yourself a love letter. Tell yourself WHY you love yourself. Tell yourself your amazing qualities and talents. If anything negative starts to come out, erase it. Keep writing.
God created you for an amazing purpose that only YOU can fulfill. You can’t fulfill your purpose if you are spending all of your time comparing yourself to others, trying to change who you are and criticizing who God created you to be. You’ll never live to your full potential if you keep thinking like this.
This comparison, this hate for who WE are as a human is a distraction that the enemy uses to keep us from being who we were meant to be. The enemy knows that if He can keep us distracted by diets, comparison, self-hate, and constant comparison then we can never do the work that God has set for us to do in this world.
Loving yourself isn’t what society tells us to do. Accepting ourselves isn’t what the media encourages. They are always telling us ways to change our bodies, our minds, and our outfits to make us ‘more likable.’
We have to remember what we were put on this planet to do- and it wasn’t to be liked by everyone! We were put on this planet with a purpose and a job for the Kingdom of God. Accept that about your life! Accept your purpose and your plan! Accept that the amazing and beautiful body and mind that God gave you are the vessel to making that plan and purpose a reality on this planet.
YOU are beautifully and wonderfully made.
YOU are meant to be here.
YOU have a purpose.
YOU are strong and courageous.
YOU are protected and selected by God.
Take those promises and those truths today and let THOSE fuel your confidence and your self love.
Like this post? Check out How to Change your Heart and Thoughts for God and You are allowed to Love Yourself
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