What if this week, every time we look in the mirror and think … “Uggh, I need to ______ {lose weight, do something about these wrinkles, get rid of those dark circles under my eyes, etc.} you say this out loud:
“He calls me Beautiful.”
Because it’s true. He does!
What if we surrounded our hearts with truth seekers and truth-speakers, who told us these truths again and again? Friends who point us back to the One who calls us Beloved, Known and Valuable.
This week I’m honored to be joining a community of women that do just that, everyday. Speaking courage, truth and Hope into the hearts of women around the world through their words, blog posts, community groups and more. Oh how I’d love for you to join (me) there as I join the contributing writers team of:
Perhaps (in)courage is a place you already know? Or maybe it’s a community waiting for you? I’ll be sharing more in the weeks to come. But I hope you’ll hop on over this week, and find out more about (in)courage, see me with bed-head (in my favorite place on earth), and meet the other new writers here. BUT BEFORE YOU GO be sure to ENTER TO WIN (Sorry, the giveaway is over, but would still love to hear from you)!
To celebrate the (in)courage-ment, and the fact that this week will be different because we’re going to tell ourselves the truth every time we look in the mirror… I’m giving away Love Idol: Letting Go of Your Need for Approval and Seeing Yourself through God’s Eyes, by my friend Jennifer Dukes Lee. Jennifer is also a newbie (in)courage writer along with several others and me who joined the (in)courage team today!
Jennifer wrote “Love Idol” for women like us—who’ve had “enough of the not-enoughs.” This book is her journey toward freedom from the approval-seeking-cycle where she invites us to a place where we can lay down every mirror, every tally sheet, every report card — everything that tells us we aren’t (____) enough.
ENTER TO WIN by leaving a comment sharing one area of your life where you would love to see yourself as God sees you: loved and pre approved. (Sorry, the giveaway is over, but would still love to hear from you)
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I want to see myself as ‘forgiven’ the way God sees me. Forgiving ourselves is a tall order, and sometimes I have to do it daily!
I have been so down on myself lately for not being able to lose the rest of my post pregnancy weight. I wish I could see that God sees me as beautiful when I’m looking in the mirror at stretch marks, extra skin, and too much belly. I’ve never been able to see myself as beautiful even though I try to remind myself that I’m chosen and perfectly made in God’s eyes. Would love to read this book to boost my confidence in His opinion instead of my own.
Thank you for the reminder that God calls me beautiful even when I don’t feel like it and always feel like I need to have a better body. Looking forward to this ..
Well, every day, I think we all see areas of our lives where we feel we are lacking. We see others who are thinner, prettier, more put together (in our eyes) and we let the “not good enough” attitude creep in. I have posted around my mirror many thoughts to encourage me and remind me on a daily basis that I am who He says I am..I am an adopted, loved daughter of the one true King. I am not who I see, I am who He sees. Thanks for the continued reminders and encouragement that you all provide us!
The biggest area I need to give full control is in my marriage and with my self esteem. Both of these areas have been a struggle lately and it’s hard to release it all to God but I am trying. Please pray for me.
I am a little overweight and I have been told many times that I am not as pretty as I used to be and don’t look like I used to. I like myself on the inside but not on the outside, you hear things for so long that you tend to see what others see.
The biggest area of my life that I need to give full control to God is the need to be accepted by others. I worry so much about what people think of me and always feel that I will never measure up to the other ladies in my church or on my job. I am constainly worried about what people are saying about me when I leave the room and If they think that what I just said was the dumbest thing they have ever heard. I try so hard to please people, but need to learn the God is the only person that matter. It is hard to release this becasue I have spent my whole life this way trying it my way. I am ready to let god have control of this.
I am bigger than most women, in height and I think sometimes because of that I intimidate people. I feel I am judged before people get to know me . So I get very self-conscious about it. So I would love to see me as God sees me and be free.
I would love to see myself as God sees me in my own body. I’ve kept on 46 pounds since having my second child. I feel slow, I feel fat, I feel like a failure for not losing it and for not having more motivation. My husband tells me I am beautiful every day, and for a moment I believe him. I think peace with my own body is only going to come from a peace that is not of this world.
I would love to see myself as God sees me in the area of my existence. Am I doing that which He has called me to do in this season of my life or do I need redirection? Am I really making an impact on those around me or am I missing the mark? Am I pleasing Him in the way i’m living my life and in the daily choices I make or do I get so caught up in “doing life” that I fail to live the life He desires of me? To see myself as God sees me in this area or many others would surely be life changing.
Wow, I agree with so many. You really want me to pick one. I seek approval from my “step-father” and even a few weeks ago my grown children said “Mom, you are never going to get that….give it up.. it’s ok.” I have always wanted men’s approval in general …..and now wisdom tells me it’s from my REAL biological father leaving all five of us when we were tiny. This this type of insecurity created around this is life changing and a downhill spiral without God.
You want me to pick just one area? That is impossible. But probably my biggest area of trying to gain approval is from my Mother. When your Mother tells you something you tend to believe it, it’s your Mother right? Seeking that approval leads to me trying to gain approval from others. Since gaining it from others is much easier that getting it from her. I desperately needed to hear that I am Pre-Approved today! And I will need it again tomorrow and days after that!
Thanks for the reminder
This sounds like just the book for me. Suffering from the “not enough” syndrome as well as the comparison game and coming up short every time…God is doing a new work in me and showing me that I am his valued and treasured daughter. So sad to be 51 and still not know how valuable I am…but God is leading me to His truth and I am so grateful for the opportunity to win this book. I loved your book Confident Heart…it has helped me so much. God Bless you Renee for being transparent and showing us we all struggle with the warfare that the enemy lies to us about. He was all about beauty and power and that caused his fall…when we face these battles of not measuring up or lack of Hollywood beauty…we can know our enemy is behind them.
I would love to see myself as God sees me. I know he loves me & I am His daughter. But life still gets me down sometimes, just like every other woman. I have been struggling with my weight & my career. I am a newlywed so like most I have gained some weight. I have been back and forth trying to eat healthy and work out. Its really hard but I’ve got to do it for myself. I have been contemplating going back to school. I know it will be hard because I work full time too. But I want a career for myself. Not just a job. I want to feel like I have accomplished something. I know God will help me do these things if I just trust Him and look too Him for guidance.
I would like to feel pre-approved for being created a woman. I struggle with self-doubt. There are a lot of things that just don’t come natural for me as a woman, wife, mother, and homemaker.
This is a hard thought, but one area I would like to see myself as God does loved and pre-approved is with my work
I need God to show me he loves me and approves of me and is my Father. My family-dad, mom, and sister have disowned me because of a divorce. I have struggled with feelings of unworthiness and insecurity. Afraid of being left because I don’t measure up.
Thanks for the wonderful inspiring statement. I am pre-approved. I love God and knows he loves me buy I look at myself and say Uggh, I need to lose weight. I have gain more than an extra pounds since I got sick with a chronice illness and have to have IV steriod treatments. Its tough. It affects everything your weight and moods. I like looking in the mirror thinking & saying I am beautiful because I am redeemed by Jesus precious blood. I would love to win this book to pass along to others I know who stuggle in this area that needs to be reminded that they too are pre-approved. God bless you. In His Hands
I don’t have a lot of self confidence… your book sounds wonderful.