“I am beautiful.”
When was the last time you said that to yourself without equivocation? Could you look into a mirror today and believe that every part of you, inside and out, is truly beautiful?
Sometimes, to be beautiful is considered pretty to look at, have a happy disposition, and having a wonderful personality. But this is not true. This is a worldly perspective of beauty. Just like the worn phrase, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This statement means it’s up to individuals to define what is beautiful and what is not. We see it on social media, weaved throughout magazines, self-help books, and even in the bible.
In the original love triangle, we see Jacob fall in love with Rachel based on her looks:
Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. Genesis 29:17 CSB
Jacob worked for seven years to marry Rachel but was tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah, by her father, Laban. Jacob then worked another seven years to finally marry Rachel. He loved Rachel. But that didn’t stop him from getting intimate with Leah … he had six sons and one daughter with her.
Yet, Leah felt neglected because of his love for Rachel, and Rachel was jealous because she was barren. These two sisters faced a whole serving of emotional pain due to their father’s deception.
In the passage, Rachel is controlling who Jacob gets intimate with, and we catch a glimpse of Leah’s frustration:
‘Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?’
“Well then,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” Genesis 30:15 CSB
These two women found themselves in the depths of comparison, fighting for the same man. Can you imagine how hard this must have been to process mentally?
How do we each accept the truth that we are beautiful when our partners cheat on us? Or our breasts are removed due to cancer or the BRCA gene? Or we have an opening surgically into our abdomen so that we can defecate into a bag due to a gastrointestinal disorder? Or when our thoughts lie to us due to anxiety and/or depression? And how do we accept the truth that we are beautiful when someone passes a hurtful comment about who we are or what we look like?
The answer? We must come to Jesus. We have to dig through all the emotions and life stuff and declare this truth:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139: 13-16 NIV
But there’s also one step further that we often forget to do after declaring the above statement. The very next verse says:
God how precious your thoughts are to me, how vast their sum is! Psalm 139:17
When a person possesses the quality that takes great pleasure and satisfaction to see, hear, and think about God, they possess the quality that is beauty. Beauty is not just a noun, it’s a verb––an action. And as you and I delight and listen to the vast sum of God’s thoughts, our beauty increases because God is beautiful. And, because God is beautiful and we are made in his image, we can declare the truth, “I am beautiful.”
Whatever is going on in your life today, don’t lose hold of that truth.
A love letter from God …
Dear lovely one,
You are beautiful. Every part of you, inside and out. From the moment you were conceived until the day you arrive in heaven, your beauty increases.
Spend time with me, and I will share my thoughts with you. And as you listen, my beauty molds and shapes who you are. You carry my loveliness into the world. When others see it, they delight in you because of me.
When you’re hurt and unsure of your beauty, remember to declare my words:
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
There is only one truth and that is mine. If I say you’re beautiful, you are beautiful.
I see you, my beloved; I love you.
And I am with you always.
Love, God