If you're anything like me a statement like this will leave your mouth several times a day and dear knows how many times a week. Guys and girls alike both struggle with how they look and lack self confidence in their appearance! (Please correct me if I am wrong!) Image is such a big deal in our society! Everyone and everything around us is throwing us advice and telling us how we ought to look and what we are to wear! The media, our friends, celebrities, our parents, our siblings, our churches... the list just keeps on going. But have you ever taken a step back and thought about who's opinion really matters?? In the grand scheme of things how long will your 'perfect' image last for?? Cause let's face it, when you are ninety years old no amount of make up will hide away the wrinkles on your face and you'll probably be to frail and cold to wear the latest dress that has hit the high streets.
Image is a topic that has been on my heart for a while now and throughout the past week with all the no make-up selfies on Facebook and with different passages that have cropped up in my Bible readings I really felt like this is something that I needed to share with you all.
If any of you reading this have ever met me you know that I don't wear make-up. For those who don't know me there are several reasons why I don't wear; the main one is that I'm allergic to every single sort of make-up there is (having eczema is no fun let me tell ye!), another is that I like my sleep too much in the morning to get up and make time to put it on and then there is the thought of having to take it all off again at night!!The third reason is that I could not bring myself to spend so much money on it! (Yes I am a cheap skate!) Even though I don't wear make-up, as a 16 year old girl I still have so many insecurities about myself. Like this morning I wake up and, no joke, there must be about 20 spots on my face and I'm just like, "I cannot go out of the house like this what will people think!" But then I remember what I read in my Bible readings and different verses popped into my head. Here are juts a few:
Genesis 1:27 : "So God created human beings in His own image." - As I thought about this one I was like, do you know what God has created me in His image, that means that I am not to worry how I look because God cared so much about me and loved me so much that He created me just like Him. Isn't that class to think about: the creator of the whole entire universe would chose to make a tiny, insignificant person in his image. He could've chose to make any animal like Him but he chose us, the humans.
Psalm 139:13-14 : " For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." - In GB (Girls' Brigade) this year these few verses were are theme verses. I think they are absolutely class. Think about this, before your mum even found out she was expecting you, God was knitting you together. He took the time to make each and everyone of us different and unique. If you are ever self concious over how you look or worried about what other people will think of how you look just remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. No part of you is an accident. God made you just they way he wanted you to be and you are perfect in his sight. And nothing that God made is bad or ugly. It is good and beautiful!! Whoever you are, you are good and you are beautiful!! At a girl's Bible study that I am now helping to lead, we studied image and we all got a picture of a model from a magazine. On that picture was a sticky note that sad exactly what the title of this blog says, "I'm not beautiful like you, I'm beautiful like me!" Next time you go to compare yourself to somebody else just remember that you are beautiful just the way you are, you are unique and no one else can be like you.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 : "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time."- I actually only found this verse this morning while I was in church and it was at the bottom of the page in my notebook. But if you actually take time to think about this God has made everything beautiful. You might not feel it but you are, believe me!
The last verse that has helped me is: 1 Peter 3:3-4 : "Don't be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewellery or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." - This verse is sort of like a motto verse for life for me. I think so many times (especially girls) we can get bogged down in the way our hair is sitting, the newest fashion trends out on the high streets or whether our clothes are from Hollister, Jack Wills or Primark. I get bogged down with these things as well, but by doing this we are conforming to the world and are worried about what the world thinks of us and how we look. But lets face it some day none of these things will matter, there will come a day when we will die and we will have to stand before God and whether or not we have a dress from Hollister or a Jack Wills hoody will matter. In this world we should be trying to have a loving heart, a compassion for others around us, a friendly smile, and a gentle spirit that can come before God and pray to Him. Those are the things that really matter. Please don't get me wrong I love clothes, I love shopping and I have lots of stuff that are brands but as you have read through this blog I hope I have in some way shown you that outward beauty will not last, inner beauty is what matters!!
Here are just a few pictures of some of the girls who I get the privilege of calling friend and who are genuinely some of the most beautiful girls I know! They have the real beauty that comes from within:
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| This girl is like a big sister! She has such a compassionate heart and I love her very much |
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| These two girls are two of my very favourite!(One of them is up above for those who didn't notice!) They are so encouraging, so loving and so Godly! I admire them |
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| We might of been together for only a week but this girl makes me laugh so much and has such a lovely heart! |
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| My camp girlies, so faithful and full of God's love and so encouraging! |
This girl puts up with so many of my silly selfies I thought she deserved a nicer picture too...
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| I don't know what I would do without this girl, my ginger, my best friend and the one girl who can make me laugh without fail |
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| This girly is such an encourager and a great laugh! She understands me and looks out for me! |
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| After 9 years of friendship this girl deserves a medal! She has had to listen to me and deal with all my different moods but she is still here and is one of best friends! |
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| My faithful sidekick... This girl is one in a million and never fails to put a smile on my face! |
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| This girl listens to everything I have to say and she still loves me and cares for me she is amazing and doesn't know it half of the time! |
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| My YF girlies, these girls are banterful and so loving and know how to lift my spirits... |
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| This is my no make-up selfie but as I don't where makeup I decided to dress up as Kermit |
I
hope in some way I have helped to enlighten you on what real beauty is and I
hope in some way I have encouraged you!! If you have any questions or comments
leave them below or if you know me drop me a message on Facebook I would
honestly love to chat to you if you have questions!! Also if anybody wants any
prayer for anything throw your requests my way!! Can I also point out
I am not perfect and I fail all the time, so if you read this and think that I
think that I am in some way better than you, I do not think that way I struggle
as much as you do let me assure you but I just feel like image is an issue that
effects everyone and I hope by readin this you have seen that the 'perfect'
image and beauty comes from within!
Wrote
with love,
Jemma
x
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