"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." --Micah 6:8
Something I've struggled with all my life is the thought of never being enough. Skinny enough. Smart enough. Polite enough. Good enough.
Most days I'd wake up with a plan of what to do to better myself. That's a good thing. But not when the change wouldn't do anything to progress in my relationship with God.
Yeah, it's great to wake up and say, "I'm going to work out 5 days this week." But how is that going to improve your spirituality? Will it make you more holy?
"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." --1 Thessalonians 4:7
In order to fight this feeling of not being good enough, the best thing we can do is to stop striving. Stop striving to be skinnier, to be smarter, to have a significant other. Stop striving for these insignificant, wordly things, and you will instead find yourself striving to be more holy. Which is what God has asked us to do all along! He asks us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.
When you stop striving to have "the perfect body", you will wake up every morning feeling on top of the world. You will look in the mirror and see His perfect likeness {Psalm 17:15}. You will look at every curve as a beautiful, perfect thing. You will be confident, taking notice of your inner beauty instead.
When you stop striving to fill your head with worldly knowledge, you will find yourself falling more and more in love with God's Word each day. You will instead strive to know more about Him.
When you stop striving to have a significant other, to meet "the one", you will instead find yourself pursuing the One who made your heart the way it is. You will allow Him to pursue you as well, accepting every act of mercy, love, and grace He throws your way.
Love yourself the way God made you. Instead of thinking, "I'm way too organized. I'm not spontaneous enough. I wish I were more (fill in the blank)," we need to think, "I am organized, so let me use this to bring God glory." "I like to plan ahead, so let me use this to bring God glory."
Strive to be holy. You are not too much. You are not lacking anything. You are just enough the way you are.
"To have a gentle and quiet spirit {1 Peter 3:3-4} is to have a heart of faith, a heart that trusts in God, a spirit that has been quieted by his love and filled with his peace. Not a heart that is striving and restless." --John Eldredge, Captivating
Kate, you are one of the most beautiful women I know! I know we as women all have our struggles, and self-esteem issues, and we can all always work on something in our relationship with God, but you truly are such a beauty! Inside and out! Your love for your Father just shines through you, and I strive for people to see that in me because I have seen it in you. :)
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