Finding Christ

Confidence

I used to be insecure beyond comprehension. 
I hated the way I looked, I hated my hair, my acne, my uneven eyebrows, my body hair, my tummy, among many other things. And hate isn't an overstatement. 
I would look at other girls who were bigger than me and think, "I'd be that big if I could at least have clear skin."
How awful, right?! But I was so consumed in how ugly I thought I was, that common decency was kind of thrown out the door. 

I went through a lot of phases to be where I am today. Each phase kind of defined who I was at that point in my life.
Like I went through a country phase, then a follow-all-trends-or-die phase, a emo phase, a wannabe hipster phase, and then.... I dropped all phases and decided to be me.
I know that I will look back in the future on where I'm at now and be thankful that the future me isn't the present me. But now, the present me is glad that I'm not my past me.
That in itself is enough. 

I am enough.
You are enough.

I am worthy.
You are worthy.

I am loved.
You are loved.

I still have my moments... I'm not perfect. 
But I have learned how to be comfortable in my own skin and yes... love myself. 
It's a journey, but it's invigorating and possible. 
I love my cellulite, my stretch marks, my breakouts, my pimples, my eyebrows, my bags under my eyes, my not-flat stomach.
I love those characteristics because they make me 
me.

So why am I telling you this in a devotional?

Well, because it's an important lesson to learn.
Some people think that self love is wrong, but I personally disagree. I
Of course, we as Christians are not to be self-absorbed or flaunt our bodies but we do need to be comfortable in the skin God has given us.
It depends on how you look at it, I guess. "Self Love" is often a phrase used unbibically... but if we follow God's selfless way of self love... than we will get it right. 

God didn't make us to hate ourselves.

So stop hating yourself.

I can tell you now that you will save yourself so much sorrow and wasted time if you just begin your journey today. 
I'm going to give you some verses on this topic, but please do not take them out of context. We still need to put God first and then others before ourselves. 
The point is to not be selfish, but to be selfless. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away."

Song of Solomon 4:7-
"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you."

Psalm 139:13-15
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."

Ephesians 5:29-
"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,"