We are now into chapter three of our book and I am so thankful for our fellowship :) I am finding this book so helpful, and from everyone's comments, I think all of you are too!
I feel that this next chapter will be a challenge for me, since it is difficult to look at yourself and recognize your flaws without wanting to immediately stop and focus on something else. However, it is so important to find contentment in ourselves and remember that the Holy Spirit lives in each and every one of us and that we are beautiful and perfectly formed in the eyes of God.
XOXO
Well Lib's I think you were right!... This chapter was a challenge for me. It's not that there are certain things about my personality or appearance that I don't like, but there have been many times when I say that I don't have talents or specific things I am good at. I need to keep in mind that God made me this way specifically and I need to be thankful:) How awesome is it that God knew us before He created us? So awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was definitely really difficult and hit me on a lot of levels. Probably one of the things that stood out to me most was the poem by Helen Keller. So many times I look at my life and wonder how I can be so unhappy and ungrateful for what I've been blessed with when there are people out there who are so much less fortunate for me, but have so much more strength and better attitudes.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a very self-conscious person and constantly questioning why I am the way I am. I also have frequently talked to friends about my overall mediocrity and how that plays a significant role in not knowing what to do with my life because I don't have anything that I can say is my true strength.
It's wonderful to know that God created each of us with a purpose and in perfection. But it is still sometimes really difficult to accept that we are perfect in God's eyes when we don't necessarily feel the same. This was a great chapter to help me look at my attitude and to re-evaluate how I see myself. Hopefully this will be something that God will help me work on throughout the rest of this book and the rest of my life.
Michelle, You are beautiful, have so many talents and most important to God, you have a gentle spirit. Sometimes we are our worst critic... seeing ourselves only with flaws. I see in you an amazing woman on so many levels. I pray that God would reveal to you your true strength.
Delete"She's too busy focusing on what she doesn't have instead of what God has given her (p. 41)." The author stated this after talking about how much Carol disliked her personality and envied that of her friend. Isn't it so easy to focus on what we don't have instead of all that we have been blessed with? This past week I strove to fix my thoughts on the positives in my life but caught myself thinking about the negatives so easily. Why does it seem so hard to fix my thoughts on all that God has given to me? I need God's strength to help me because I can not make this change on my own... "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually"! Psalm 105:4
ReplyDeleteAnother verse I like is 1 Peter 3:3-4 NLT, "Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." The world tells us that we need to look a certain way and wear certain cloths to be beautiful; although, I don't think that nice clothes and trying to look our best is bad, I do think that these things should be an outward result of what God is doing in our heart. I pray that in all of us ladies God would create a beautiful picture that radiates through our outward beings.
I really like this passage in 1 Peter. I think that true beauty radiates from the inside out. When you have a beautiful, Godly soul, it spills out onto our outward appearance. When we have an ugly, sinful soul, it too spills out onto our outward appearance and makes us ugly people.
DeleteLadies,
ReplyDeleteI was praying for you all and had a few additional thoughts in regards to this chapter.
In John 10:10, Jesus talks about the parable of the Good Shepard... He says, "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life" (NLT). Satan wants us to believe that we are ugly, stupid and that we have no talents because then we are of no threat to him. We become a threat when we believe in our heart what King David writes in Psalm 139:14, "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it" (NLT) and also what Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." God created us to be uniquely special (beautiful, smart and talented) so that we can fulfill His plan.
The other thought I had was that we live in a sinful world were our bodies are imperfect and decaying. This is not how God intended things to be. It says in Philippians 3:20-21 (NIV), "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." In this world our bodies have flaws but we must fix our eyes on the prize... when we will stand before our Heavenly Father, whole and flawless.
These are such great passages, Jenna! Thanks so much for sharing them.
DeleteJenna, you point out such great parts of the Bible! The passage from Ephesians goes along with what Linda Dillow was saying about each of us having a frame and a picture painted by God within the frame. We are each masterpieces!
DeleteThis chapter was difficult for me. I have always struggled with my own body image. Quite often I fight with myself and become discouraged and even angry at the body I was given. This is difficult for me to say, but very true. I'm never satisfied with the way I look and I am always ready to critique myself. It makes me uncomfortable and even upset when someone tells me I look nice or I'm beautiful because I simply don't belive it. I pray to God all the time about this issue, because I know I need to overcome it and learn to love my body. Almost everynight I pray somethine along the lines of "God, tomorrow please make every woman on earth feel beautiful and feel her worth."
ReplyDeleteI don't know how or when God will change my way of thinking, and like so many things, I know it won't happen overnight. But I so deeply want to be content with myself. I know that this way of thinking holds me back from seeing so many positives. If anybody has some advice, I would be happy to hear it :)
Libby, I've always felt the same way...even to the point of an eating disorder back in high school. It's hard to change that thought process of seeing other people as more beautiful than yourself. For me, it most obviously displays itself in my inability to accept compliments.
DeleteA sweet man in my life compliments me often, and I always push it aside. He retorts with, "Are you calling me a liar?". I always have a hard time responding to that. But putting it into perspective, he's right. I have slowly become better at accepting his compliments. So the next time somebody tells you you look nice or you're beautiful, accept the compliment and think of it that way...because they're not lying to you :-). And especially, because God certainly doesn't create anything that's not beautiful in some way, which includes you.
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DeleteI can definitely relate to you both as I'm sure many girls can. I have always struggled with my body image as well and am extremely self-conscious. I keep telling myself that if I lose weight then I'll be happy, and I've set that as sort of a bench-mark for happiness, but I know that it's about loving myself the way I am. It's difficult though and it definitely makes you feel like you're not really able to live and be the confident person that you want to be. My friends at home are all skinny and most of them are pretty fit and in shape and I find myself envying them. And at the same time, I find myself ashamed to admit to them and to most people that I'm working on losing weight and I don't even know why. I pray that we'll all be able to feel contentment within ourselves and be comfortable in our own skin in God's time. It's something I'm sure many of us have searched for our entire lives.
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