This beauty quest is not about committing to do a cinnamon and
honey facial mask (I do love this mask though) every night while you give your
hair a luscious deep conditioning treatment and your feet a well-deserved
soothing soak. This beauty quest is about debunking the cultural superficial
standards of beauty by embracing true beauty. If you are new here, please take
a moment to read part 1 and part 2 of the "I want to be beautiful"
series, as it sets the tone for this beauty quest. You don't need any
fancy products, tools or a wealth of time. You simply need an open heart and
mind with a willingness and desire to have a better self-image and greater
confidence of who you in Christ. Each day will be broken up into three R's:
Read, Reflect and Reinforce. So, let's get started.
Read:
Today's scriptures: Ephesians 4:24
& Genesis 1:27
"And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of
God in true righteousness and holiness" Ephesians 4:24.
"So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God
he created them; male and female he created them" Genesis 1:27.
Think about this for a moment, we-you and I are created in the
likeness, the image of the one true God. We are created in the image of the
creator, the Alpha and the Omega--this is not to be taken lightly. Yet, I
believe many of us forget just how wonderful of a creation God designed us to
be. And the best part, we were designed to glorify Him. We were designed to
worship, praise and honor God with all that we have. What a marvelous, glorious
design that we are--a child of God.
Now, think for moment, children of celebrities may often feel
incredibly special to be the offspring of such greatness. They have access to
unbelievable resources and have the potential to have great influence. Prince
and princesses may feel honored to have royalty streaming through their blood.
But, yet this feeling of uniqueness and prestige weigh nothing compared to the
reality that we are created in the image of God. It doesn't get any better than
that.
And even more so, we must remember that when we accept Jesus
Christ as our Lord and Savior we are now a peculiar-chosen people, "But you
are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light (Peter 2:9).
Reflection:
Take the remainder of
the day to meditate on the truth that we are created in the image of God.
Examine the word of God to identify 3 or more characteristic of God and begin
to ponder what it means to be created in the image of a God who possess such
traits. For example: in 1 Corinthians 14:33 the Bible illustrates that God is a
God of order and peace. How affirming it is to know that we too can
have order and peace in our lives because the God who created us in His
image can guide us to experiencing it our lives.
Reinforce:
This is your call to
action. Identify a characteristic or a trait that you do not like
about yourself and write in your journal why. Then find a scripture that
speaks life and encouragement for you. For example, I struggle with accepting
my body, I never seem to be satisfied because in my mind I want to
look more like someone else. I used to believe that my confidence would
stem from my physical image, but I've learned that is a lie and that my
confidence comes in knowing who I am in Christ. And because the word says my
body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, then that means my body is powerful,
purposeful and beautiful because of what God placed within me. Regardless of my
appearance, I can be confident in knowing that God saw fit to use my body as
the temple for His holy spirit, and He does the same for all us. And I can have
confidence in knowing that anything I do to honor and glorify God is
all because of Him. Now that is a body to be proud of and a body
to treat with respect.
If this has blessed you
in anyway, please share it with someone. I would love to hear your feedback, so
please feel free to open up and share. If you can't comment on blogger
for technical issues, please send me an e-mail at
theprayingsister@gmail.com. I want to hear from you.
See you tomorrow for
Day 2.
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