Tuesday 21 April 2009

Beautiful one, I love you

Hey,

Once again its been a while since I last wrote something properly, so apologies for that. I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend, and regardless of how many eggs you got, oh I got SIX by the way, you remembered the real reason of Easter.

I am not here to chat about all that jazzzz. What I really want to talk about is something that I've been thinking about a lot recently, and this it the wonderful issue of self-esteem.

This a vast topic affecting both women/men, old/young, skinny/big. With alarming statistics suggesting that 1 in 100 girls between 15-30 have anorexia, and pro-anorexia websites boasting 3 million posts. It is clear that we have an epidemic on our hands. Researching this blog I went on some pro-anorexia sites, which are basically message forums where girls/boys who are suffering with anorexia discuss weight loss tips, how "fat" they feel, or even their scarily low weight. I was on it for about 5 mins and had to stop reading because I couldn't see through my tears. I have never read something so heartbreaking and there is nothing I can do to get through to them straight away, or with any real success.

Granted anorexia is the extreme level of low self-esteem but around 8 out 10 girls are not happy with the way they look. I asked a few teenage girls I know about what they thought of the way they looked and this is what they said.
  • umm the way I look I dont really like it well I mean im constantly comparing myself to others like they are so much better
  • sometimes but most of the time not really
  • well I'm normally quite happy with the way I look, obv sometimes I think I look really good and then other days I look like crap but honestly I think I need to lose alot of weight, because I find skinny really attractive.
  • The saddest thing is these types of phrases and attitudes are so common amongst not only teenagers but adults, and younger children. When we look at magazines, watch films and music videos we are constantly comparing ourselves to those we see whos weight, hair, eyes, clothes are so much better than ours.

    But who claims that to be beautiful? Surely beauty is the eye of the beholder? Of course it is, but that isn't enough. When Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales the Wife of Bath was suppose to be beautiful, and she had buck teeth and a big forehead, not exactly what you'd find gracing the covers of Glamour Magazine. I am not one of the 2 in every 10 who is happy with the way I look, so this message is for me as well as you. Where do we find real beauty? How can we look at ourselves in the mirror and think "yeah I like".

    The bible teaches about the way we look at ourselves, and how we need to do this in a positive way.

    In Genesis 1:26-31 God created man, making us in his image and what he say was VERY good...not just good but very good. So straight away God thinks that we are very good, we are above average, we are beautiful. As soon as we are created God knows how good we are, and how good we will be.

    In Psalm 139:14-17 . This is one of my favourites because God is saying we were fearfully and wonderfully made. Not by chance, or half-hearted but we are wonderful, in other words AMAZINGLY made. God planned us well before we knew ourselves and he was happy with the way we were made.

    Proverbs 30:31 says that charm, i.e flirting(!) and beauty will fade with age so someone who fears/loves their God needs to be praised.

    We need to stop thinking we are ugly, fat, and unworthy. We need to remember this.

    Zephaniah 3:17 (New International Version)

    17 The LORD your God is with you,

    He is mighty to save.

    He will take great delight in you,

    He will quiet you with his love,

    He will rejoice over you with singing."

    God rejoices over us with singing, and takes great delight in us. We need to start believing this about ourselves. That we are worthy and beautiful the way we are. The song beautiful one, "beautiful one, I love you" is something God is singing over us. Regardless of what anyone says to us because God rejoices over us with singing. He made it and he said it was VERY good.

    Lets start believing it. Beauty is what God tells us is beauty and he tells us that we are beautiful, he is pleased and rejoices over us.

    Songs of Solomon 4:7

    All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.

    In God's Eyes we are flawless....from the top of heads to the tips of our toes and everything in between. We are beautiful beyond compare. Stop doubting and start believing.

    If this rings home for you please email me. hollincross@gmail.com

    5 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    amazing! simply amazing! God knows how to say stuff to people without even a gasp! its where im at and its what i need to hear (well read)

    Anonymous said...

    such important encouragement in a generation that is obsessed with outward apperance.
    When did we last see on the front cover of Cosmo "How to make your character beautiful"?
    Such self-worth can be found in God's thoughts towards us, it's what keeps me secure as a woman :) x

    Hollin said...

    Thank you for the lovely comments. I am glad it meant something to you.

    Dave White said...

    Good article Hollin! The Pro-Anerexcia websites are disgusting. Im hoping God thinks im beutiful as it would help make up the numbers. Would God count as one entity or three (the father, the son and the holy spirit? Im not exeactly sure where I stand on the numerical side of his holiness. Hope you can help with my dilema Hollin

    Hollin said...

    Dave, maybe spell dilemma properly first. ha!

    http://www.everystudent.com/forum/trinity.html

    Trinity is totally irrelevant for this blog though. The website above explains it.