Unattainable Beauty

"For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh" Philippians 3:3

A friend of mine asked a question on her blog that bothered me. She asked her readers what are the images that inspire them to lose weight. Something didn't feel right to me about that question because of my past and the redemption that Christ has brought in my life. An image was the root problem of my former weight issues. Unattainable beauty, inhuman shapes or waist lines that only 5% of the population in the world can attain were the causes for fluctuating pounds and years of mental attacks from the enemy. The self-help messages of loving myself and accepting myself did nothing for me until God showed me in His word what He said about me. It took years but I can say that I am free to love myself because He first loved me and created me the way He wants me to be. My short answer to her questions is Phil. 3:3, Christians put no confidence in the flesh. What kind of sense does it make to look at an image and say I want to be like you? God created me in His image, I ought to be like Him, the perfect one.

I haven't been in touch with many pregnant women on a daily basis – I'm quite alright with this. I hear that many feel fat, ugly, etc. Many say the hormones did this to them (the negative thoughts and talk) but I prayed and asked God to teach me how to distinguish heart issues from hormonal issues. The mouth speaks things that come from the heart. Even if people tell me I'm fat (trust me, I've heard that recently in church) because they assume most pregnant women think that's who they are, I don't accept these kinds of statements. I believe with all my heart that there's a time and a season for everything. God allowed me to be in a season where I lost 40 pounds and after gaining health and strength, He allowed me to be in a season where I am nurturing a son. The focus is to stay strong and have a healthy birth. The last thing I need to worry about is how I no longer have a waist line. The health of my son is way more important than that. After I'm done with the pregnancy phase, I'll be glad to work on my own body. I keep telling my husband how blessed I feel that God had a plan for my health and I accepted it. He transformed my mind in such a way that I love the way I look, pregnant or not. Do I feel this great every day? No. When I don't, I try to quickly find encouragement in the words of God about me. I challenge you to get your focus off top models, who are the last role models anyone needs in my opinion, and get your focus in a God who created you, loves you and meant for you to be an unique, creative and beautiful woman. You gotta know this for yourself sister, the media will never tell you that. Here are some articles I've written about image, one of them is my story, the others talk about images in the media, etc:

* The image - click here

Body awareness - click here

The weight of my Mind - click here

* My story :)

I also added my updated 6 month pregnant photo for yall. My little man is growing and kicking much stronger – how fun. Once we can venture out in the streets, sister girl and her little man are going to gym :) we gotta stay strong you know ;)