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)
Discover more from Renee Swope
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I need to doubt less and trust Him more with ALL areas of my life. It’s the little things that cause me to doubt. I know He’s got the big things. I just have trouble with the daily little things that probably shouldn’t matter.
It’s funny how the Lord works sometimes, it’s really amazing. There is a stumbling block within me concerning my self worth. I have been asking in prayer to see myself as others see me because I believe they have more of glimpse of seeing me through His eyes. They see the good in me, They see Him in me, His developing character. Last night at church service I made vow to Jesus to believe what and who He says I am. Now, I just need to know who He says I am in Him and what makes me so special that He would die such a death for me. Thank you for the opportunity to share and a resource to pursue to help me understand and receive the love that He obviously wants me to receive from Him.
Just one area?? I don’t feel like I’m enough in a lot of ways! I just want to feel like I’m worthy of love instead of having to earn it by cooking gourmet meals, keeping a clean house, balancing the budget, choosing the right activities to nurture my son’s development, achieve more at work… I want to really believe that I’m loved and adequate because of who I am, not for what I do.
Congratulations on joining the (in)courage team! Looking forward to reading this book… Thanks for the giveaway!
Hello all,
I love your posts. As women we struggle in so many areas to feel accepted and approved of. Barely over a year ago I lost all hope and tried to take my own life. It has been such an uphill battle since then. The hardest times are when I try to do “it” on my own. I have always been the fixer, doer, go to person. You know the mom, wife, college student, working mom like so many of us out there. I forgot about God, grace, love, and Jesus. Everyday all women should have the confidence of the Fathers love and know it exists. Some days I remember but many are spent toiling until a gentle reminder finds it way to me like this email today. Thank you again for reminder that no matter what there is nothing we can do to earn the acceptance, love and approval that was given in the greatest act of love of all time.
I love this….and I’ve learned that the only voice that I need to hear is God’s voice of approval…Yes, we are HIS BELOVED. It doesn’t matter if “he loves me or he loves me not”…because HE (God) loves me.
The area I would love most to improve is to be free from the need to hide in the shadows. After growing up with a hypercritical, abusive father and family members, I’d worked to get my teaching certificate and license. I was making progress and growing. I finally felt I was worthwhile and able to fulfill what I thought God had designed me to do. However, during my tenth year, an abusive principal, hypercritical parents, and the extreme demands from my principal stole my health. My doctor told me I had to find another career. A couple of months later I developed pneumonia. That was four years ago, and I’ve been slowly trying to rebuild, but still want to hide in the shadows. I’m almost finished with my Paralegal program, but still struggling with self esteem which will hinder job hunting. I know God doesn’t make mistakes, and has a much better plan for my life. Would love to be able to walk into a room and not want to hide.
I really struggle with my physical appearance. (weight, clothes, etc.) I would love to see myself as God sees me.
This book sounds amazing.my area of struggle is my body.I pray to one day see myself as God see’s me. Thanks for all you do.you truly are a blessing……… vicky
All I can say is WOW, God is good all the time
There are many areas of my life where I would love to see myself as God sees me, but I think the biggest area I struggle with is not being able to be pleasing to people. I have always strived to be a people pleaser. If I fail or disappoint someone, or they are not happy for some reason I blame myself. I feel unworthy, useless and an enormous failure. I know God sees me differently and His Word says that I should not be a man pleaser but a servant of God. I would love to win this book. I struggle with this area of my life and I want to change this attribute of myself and be fully submitted to Jesus. Thank you for your service to Jesus and to all women.
Body image and focusing too much on my inadequacies versus trusting God and allowing Him to change me.
Looks like a good read.Accepted & not rejected I would like to see myself through God’s eyes.
My mother-in-law, who is paranoid schizophrenic, lives with us; she is very negative towards me although before the disease took over we were the best of friends. However, if though she is literally crazy, I find myself still seeking her approval, which I am never going to get! This book may well be the answers to my prayers for seeking God’s approval only!
I’d love to see myself as God sees me in my value of just being me. I rarely think of myself as a person of worth and err on the side of people’s opinion of me for my identity. It is something I’m working on and taking baby steps forward. But I am going forward not backwards or standing still, so I’m hopeful.
I struggle with my weight so I need help seeing God’s preapproval on my body image.
Oh my there are so many areas of my life I don’t like. I guess the biggest area right now would be my weight. Every time I look in the mirror I see this fat, ugly person. I’m not very good at taking care of me and I kept trying to figure out why, then it finally dawned on me. I don’t like myself let alone love myself. I know God loves me but it doesn’t seem to even matter, I just don’t know how to fix this. I sure would love to win this book, but even if I don’t I appreciate the chance to try for it.
I struggle with being “good enough” and not always making mistakes. There is always the fear that God will tire of forgiving am and loving me. I try so hard sometimes to be her daughter, but other humans seem to expect so much at times and want me to change who I am.
The enemy continues to haunt me telling me I am not pretty enough, skinny enough or good enough. When I look in the mirror I see someone who is ugly and not attractive. I know God thinks I’m beautiful but why don’t I see myself the same way? Please pray for me.
I struggle in all areas of my life” in being good enough” and never measuring up. I believe God sees me as all the above mentioned because He sees me through The Blood and His Grace with eyes of love. But in reality I am not those things and I can not see myself that way.