Nobody believes you, Bruno Mars.

Girl you're amazing, just the way you are. Thanks for the sentiment, Bruno Mars, but no one believes it.

 

I was talking with a friend at work the other day and she told me that she had talked to another lady at the gym, went up to her, and said "I want your body!"

 

No, not like that. In the sense of, whatever she is doing to keep in shape like that, my friend wants to do. That is, in my opinion, a healthy response. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought about how all of us, all of us, have an unhealthy response in terms of comparing ourselves to others.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and said "Finally I am perfect! There is nothing about my body that I would change, I look amazing, just the way I am."

Not lately? Not ever? Yeah, me neither.

Maybe the problem isn't our bodies. Maybe it's our hearts. Maybe we are looking at ourselves through the wrong lens. What if we started looking at ourselves as God sees us, ladies?

• Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that lives in you. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
• You are a new creation in Christ. So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away--look, what is new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)!
• You are chosen, holy, and blameless before God. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and unblemished in his sight in love (Ephesians 1:4).
• You are God's workmanship. For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them (Ephesians 2:10).
• You have been chosen by God, and you are holy and beloved. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (Colossians 3:12).

I could go on and on. If you want more reasons to love the person in the mirror, read Psalm 139. Do you read God's word like the love letter to you that it is? Or do you read it like it's a school assignment...as fast as possible so you can move on to the next thing?

When I compare myself to someone else, I am saying to God that what He created is ugly. Unlovable. Unworthy. Not as good as someone else. Do you see how messed up that is? You have been given this life because you are strong enough to live it. What is God trying to teach you in the midst of your storms? Maybe that storm is between you and your mirror. So what is God trying to show you?

Keep working out. Keep pursuing health. Keep honoring God with your body. And believe God (and Bruno Mars) when He tells you that you're amazing, just the way you are. Because that, my beautiful friends, is the truth.

-Liz