Do you ever think you look great... until you take a picture of yourself?
Me too.
For the last nine months, I've been working with a fitness coach to slim down, so I take progress pics. Wow, is that a confidence boost (sarcasm there, in case you can't tell).
I'm convinced that our phones' cameras are geared to make us lose confidence. Maybe that's why filters have become so popular.
In the blink of an eye, I can go from looking in the mirror and thinking 'wow I feel great!' to gazing at my phone and exclaiming, 'wow, I look like Princess Fiona-- in ogre form'.
Maybe you think I'm being harsh. Of course I am!
Isn't that how we are, though? We are our own worst critics.
I think its time to change that.
Friends, we do not need insane filters or edits to make ourselves feel good looking.
Now, I know, I know, our appearance is not even close to being the most important part of us. In fact, Scripture says that beauty is vain and fleeting (Prov 31:30).
However, I've noticed that how I view myself physically often correlates to how I see myself as a whole.
Telling myself that I look ugly is not a far leap from telling myself that I am ugly.
See what I mean?
Seemingly insignificant remarks are a lot more potent than we give them credit for.
What we think about matters, or more accurately, the thoughts that we entertain matter.
It's taken me a while to learn this, but thanks to my OCD, I've realized that all kinds to crazy thoughts can pop into our heads.
But we don't have to listen to them unless we want to. Our job is to choose which of those thoughts stay in our heads.
So when I look at my progress pics, an orge-esque comparison may pop into my head. But, then I can tell that thought to hightail it out of here!
Instead, I can renew my mind with Truth, reminding myself that I am beautiful and wonderfully made by my Father (Psalm 139:14).
Friends, it's time to stop being so critical of ourselves; let's be critical of our thoughts instead.
We are God's masterpieces (Eph 2:10). It's time we start believing it.
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