We are Wonderfully Made

My little sister is a Tri-Delt, and last week was their annual End Fat Talk campaign.  I wanted to post something on the topic, and I am just now getting to it.  So, here is my take on this campaign and what they are trying to accomplish through it. As a young GenY woman, it should be no surprise that self-esteem came and went when I was a teenager and college student with each new boyfriend.  It was sort of pathetic.  As a young mother, I now have the responsibility of raising three daughters.  So there is a big question before me: How do I teach them to view themselves as beautiful regardless of this world's current standard or a boy?  At first it seemed beyond me, but it is pretty easy when you just stop and consider what the psalmist  David wrote about the topic ... Psalm 139

God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
         You understand my thought from afar.

3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
         And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
         Behold, O LORD, You know it all.

5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
         And laid Your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
         It is too high, I cannot attain to it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
         Or where can I flee from Your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
         If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
         If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
         And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
         And the light around me will be night,”

12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,
         And the night is as bright as the day.
         Darkness and light are alike to You.

13 For You formed my inward parts;
         You wove me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
         Wonderful are Your works,
         And my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,
         And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;

16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
         And in Your book were all written
         The days that were ordained for me,
         When as yet there was not one of them.

17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
         How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
         When I awake, I am still with You.

19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
         Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

20 For they speak against You wickedly,
         And Your enemies take Your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
         And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?

22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
         They have become my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
         Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
         And lead me in the everlasting way.

So, it is my job to teach my girls (and yes, even my son) this psalm.  Perhaps we should even memorize the entire thing because to have such an amazing passage written on each of our hearts would make a huge difference as I teach my daughters that their beauty and worth is found in Christ, not in this world.  As I read my little sister's blog on the topic, it made me wonder which of my features I complain about that I should rejoice in instead.

I definitely do not look like the women in magazines, and I am not as trendy of some of my friends even though they too are mothers of young children.  But my husband thinks I am the most beautiful woman in the world even when I have not showered in two days.  My oldest daughter admires me, and the only purpose it serves to talk poorly about myself is to teach her that her current, innocent view of beauty is not right.  God created me uniquely, quirks and all, and I would be criticizing the God of Creation if I could not see the beauty in myself, His creation.

Here are some questions to consider this week:

• If we really believe every human is a unique and beautiful creation of God, how should that affect the way we view people whom our society considers mistakes, disposable, worthless?
• What are some ways that we, as Christ-followers, can show that we value human life?
• How should the Bible’s teachings on human dignity affect how we treat others?

You are an awesome creation of a Heavenly King, and by recognizing that, you glorify Him.