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August 22, 2018 |
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day." Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
I was 11 years old when I first flipped through the glossy pages of Seventeen Magazine with a friend.
It was in those pages I internalized the message that acceptance and belonging would come when I was "just the right size." Have you believed that lie? The dieting and beauty industries spend billions of dollars hoping that you do. The problem is that compulsive dieting creates an eventually mindset.
Eventually, when the scale reads a certain number, you will belong, you tell yourself. Eventually, when your jeans reach a certain size, you will feel loved.
Thankfully, God reconciled all eventuallys on the cross.
"It is finished," Jesus said, and in that moment, it was. What makes us irresistibly lovely is that we are loved by a God who never makes mistakes.
Genesis 1:31, today's key verse, explains this for us: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day."
God made the entire world and called it "good," but it was when He made man and woman in His image that He pronounced His creation as "very good." In fact, the Hebrew wording for "very good" in Genesis is the same phrase used for beautiful. Yes, this is what resonates. We are beautiful, we are worthy, we are loved.
A few months ago, I found myself in an impromptu photo shoot on the beaches of Haiti. I looked at the picture my friend took of me splashing near the shore in my swimsuit and for the first time, instead of focusing on all the things I wished I could change about my body, I made a choice: Speak aloud all of the things I'm thankful for about my body.
My curvy hips carried two babies. My strong arms carried my son whom I adopted when he was 3 years old. My ample thighs help me indoor cycle like it's my job. When I consciously choose self-compassion, joy and freedom, I am no longer hindered by the limiting (and false) belief that size matters more than anything.
With these affirmations in my head, I gathered my courage and posted that swimsuit picture on Instagram, along with a caption about how scary it had felt to hit "post." And I was in awe at the response. Women from all over gave me a virtual high five and began sharing the ways their insecurities and fears have been barriers to them stepping out in courage.
If it feels like you're swimming upstream as you fight to believe you're worthy just as you are, it's because you are swimming upstream. It's hard, and there are so many forces at work to keep you from gaining ground. But do you know what I have found to be true? When we all gather to swim upstream together, we change the current.
While I can still slip into daydreaming about my "eventual" aspirational body that looks like the pages of Seventeen Magazine, I now recognize that daydream for what it is: a lie that keeps me from finding my real belonging in Christ. This lie keeps me from receiving my own completion on the cross.
When I acknowledge that negative mindset and turn toward self-compassion and thankfulness, I can pull on my swimsuit and choose fun. Freedom is ours - both in and out of swimsuit season. Accepting ourselves as image bearers of a beautiful God is where we finally find belonging.
Dear God, thank You for forming me in the garden and completing me on the cross. Today, I choose to believe I am beautiful simply because I was created in Your very image. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (ESV)
Psalm 139:13-15, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth." (ESV)
RELATED RESOURCES:
Want to learn how to walk through your fear of not sizing up? Jessica Honegger wants to help you tell yourself a better story - a story with the power to change the world. Check out Jessica's new book, Imperfect Courage, available now.
CONNECT:
Visit www.jessicahonegger.com for more inspiring content from Jessica about life as the CEO of Noonday Collection and an author, mom, wife and style-lover. And check out her podcast, Going Scared, for conversations with changemakers from around the world designed to inspire you to get off the couch and move toward your dreams.
Enter to WIN a copy of Imperfect Courage. To celebrate this new release, Jessica's publisher will give away 5 copies of both books! Enter to win by leaving a comment here. {We'll randomly select 5 winners and notify winners in the comments section by Monday, August 27.}
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
What lies are you believing that keep you from stepping out in freedom? What's one truth you can meditate on today to find your acceptance in Christ, not culture?
© 2018 by Jessica Honegger. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries thanks WaterBrook & Multnomah for their sponsorship of today's devotion.
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