Why You Don’t Have to Feel Beautiful

Oh, how I hate looking in the mirror. I hate being around skinny girls. I hate going shopping for clothes. I hate stepping on the scale.

Why?

I hate my body. I’ve honestly hated it for years. Nothing is wrong with it—it works perfectly. It’s completely healthy. But I still hate it because it doesn’t look the way I want it to look. And truth be told, it never will.

Chasing Shadows

You see, I have a picture in my mind of the “perfect” body. It’s not the body that I have, but it’s the body that I want. And I’m tempted to chase after it.

Satan wants me to chase the “perfect” body. He tells me that I need to be the skinniest girl in the room. And he says that if I’m not the skinniest girl in the room, I’m not enough.

The problem with wanting the “perfect” body is that it’s impossible to attain. It’s like chasing a shadow because the standard of “perfect” is always changing.

And honestly, even though I desire to be the skinniest girl in the room, I have to accept the fact that I never will be. The skinniest girl in the room may have an eating disorder, or she may simply have different DNA than me. I can’t be the skinniest girl in the room because I shouldn’t change my eating habits, and I can’t change my DNA.

So I can either accept the fact that I won’t be the skinniest girl in the room—or I can reject it and be completely miserable. And you get to decide that, too.

Quickly Fading Beauty

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30 NKJV)

Not only is charm deceitful because it changes, but it’s also deceitful because we can never grasp it. The same is true of beauty. Culture’s definition of beauty (and our own personal definitions of beauty) changes constantly. We can pursue whatever we consider to be “beautiful,” but it’ll be an endless pursuit.

God’s Word is the only thing that never changes. It’s completely objective. That’s why we should pursue beauty as defined by Scripture: fearing God.

Friends, your health is more important than your size. And your heart is most important.

If we chase the “perfect” body, we’ll never be content. Trust me—I’ve tried. I’ve read the diet books, tried to become a runner, and eaten disgusting salads. And I still wasn’t happy with my body.

But that’s okay. You don’t need to feel beautiful because you can’t force yourself to feel a certain way. Pursuing a godly heart is far more important than pursuing a worldly beauty.