You are beautiful.

I know how hard it is to accept this truth. I’ve spent most of my life learning to believe this about myself.

God tells us in His word that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, created in His image and likeness.  But somewhere along the way, the lies crept in:

“You are stupid”.

“You’re not pretty”.

“You are a failure”.

“You’ll never be good enough”.

I partnered with these lies and others for so many years that even after I became a Christian it was hard to allow the truth of God’s love to penetrate my heart. I never saw myself as beautiful.

It is easy to feel as if we don’t measure up in a world where we are constantly competing to be seen, to be noticed, to be loved. But you, my beautiful friend, do not need to measure your beauty by the world’s standards. You are beautiful. And no matter what you’ve done, or will do, you will remain beautiful.

You are beautiful simply because God says that you are. You have been bought with a price, and redeemed by the very one who created you perfectly and beautifully in the secret place.

The God of the universe delights in you. You may not feel beautiful today. But know that you are, simply because you’re you, and that is enough.

You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.
(Song of Solomon 4:7)

This post is part of a 31 Day series entitled Embrace, where I will be sharing images, quotes and words that I hope will stir your soul. You can find each post in this series here. Together, let’s embrace every day and the beauty that each one holds.