Self Love

Read Genesis 3:8-11

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Adam replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”

The Lord God asked, “Who told you that you were naked?” .

This past week, I went to an annual youth conference in Michigan called, "Invasion." The first night Josh Barclay talked about this verse and kept asking the question, "Who told you?" This really stuck out to me for a lot of reasons. So many times, we get insecure in who we are because of the things we hear and see around us.

Just think for a moment and ask yourselves these questions. Who told you that you were ugly? Who told you that your were too skinny or too big? Who told you that you were not smart enough or a nerd?

This verse hit me like a ton of bricks to my heart. Believe it or not, I used to struggle so much with the way I look. I used to have a lot of insecurities about my weight, my hair, my skin, and so on and so on. But, when I look around, I realized that so many other girls my age struggle with the same thing! It's almost like everyone was created different, yet we all want to be like someone else. It's kind of crazy if you think about it. Yet, it's so true.

I just want to point out to you today that you must decide "who told you that you were a certain way." In my bible, it doesn't say anything different from you are beautiful, He fearfully and wonderfully made you. He said that you are His workmanship, created for Him and that there is no flaw in you! God made you the way you are and you shouldn't listen to anything that tells you different.

Right after the accident, some mornings I would wake up and see myself in the mirror. My first thoughts of myself were that no one is going to love me. I would think, how could someone even want to look at me everyday with just one eye. I struggled with it for a long time, especially with the burns I had on my face right after the accident. I worried myself at times thinking that I would have scars on my face, and I would never be beautiful. These thoughts come to all of us. Everyone battles thoughts of insecurities. But, just like all of us, I needed to learn how to find the good things about my life and about myself. I didn't allow those thoughts to keep me down and change the way God thinks of me. And when those thoughts came back, creeping in my mind, now I can say, "Who told you that you are ugly?" This one phrase will help me through my toughest times of insecurities.

I just want you to think about that today. Don't take what magazines and celebrities and everything fake around you tell you who you are. You were made in the image of Christ. You have a purpose and there are people waiting to hear your message of hope. Shake off your insecurities and tell the devil and your brain what God says about you! You are beautiful. You are loved. You are never alone. Who told you anything different? Figure out who did and kick them out of your life!