“Keeping up with the Joneses”, or in this day and age…the Kardashians. We have been programmed to look a certain way, behave a certain way, buy certain things…all to the detriment of our own soul! Whether or not you are a believer…this vicious cycle is still there. When I was 19 years old I had a mad crush on someone, and he happened to like me back! What a thrill. He was a catch! I had no doubt in my mind that this was a match made in heaven…until a chance comment from a friend. She looked at me and said, “I don’t get what he sees in you, you don’t even wear Ralph Lauren!” At that moment my life changed to label reading, binge shopping, insecurity and debt!!! A downward spiral of shopping in places I couldn’t afford and running a constant credit card balance. Obviously this romance of mine didn’t last, but many years of insecurity stemmed from it. What if he didn’t like me because I wasn’t a sharp dresser? Or I didn’t look the way I should have? Twenty years later I still worried about my “labels” and even toyed with the idea of some type of plastic surgery.
It came to a head one day while I was driving and listening to a Christian radio station. Women were talking about our appearance and how important it was. Something snapped! I got angry! I realized that this wasn’t how we are meant to live! Aren’t we all created in the image of GOD himself? Does He make mistakes? Are we put on earth to fix these mistakes and improve on creation? I have come to believe that all this has become a distraction from what we are put on earth to do. We are here to follow God’s plan for our lives, and live a life pleasing to Him. I imagine it hurts Him when we don’t like what we are. For once, as women, we should change the way we treat each other. Find something beautiful in the next woman you see…and tell her what it is. Something in her will be reflecting the image of God, find it…and praise God with your compliment. We all need to hear it…
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