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)
The book sounds great. It is so easy to fall into a trap of feeling that I am not good enough. Why, do I deserve His love. Then, I have to remembefr that He loves me for who I am.
We all need to know we have otheers that pray for us.
Good luck to all that may win this book. God bless you all.
I would like to see me as God sees me..PERIOD. I just can’t get past the flaws and self condemnation. This is exactly what I talked about today in counseling. This would be a great book and I’m looking forward to reading it.
So really need to read this book. I am 60 and my whole life I have always listened to what others said. Its hard to know your are beautiful when you have been betrayed by your husband. Its hard to know you are worthy to be loved when others have rejected you over and over. Some days I am so thankful that I know Jesus and God love me even when others seem not to.
Thank you for this awesome reminder. When I came home from work today in the middle of a converstaion with , my 12-year-old son, that he told me he had low self esteem. I listened and shared that I had experienced similar battles until I learned by reading the Word that I didn’t have to suffer from low self esteeem. He does read his Bible, but like many young Christians, he doesn’t think it’s making a difference. I told him that it’s what God says about who he is that will give him confidence as to who He is in Christ. This book would be resource that would help me trully minister to my son, and reinforce my understanding about who I also am in Christ. I need to hear it again and again. Even a few times is not enough. There’s so few books on the market like this. I am going to pray that God uses Jennifer’s book to minister to the masses. I believe her message will minister to millions, and that the Lord will make a way through to those paralyzed in this area due to the lies of the enemy. His Truth through her message will set them free from the lies they’ve believed for far too long! 🙂
I need to not worry all the time what other people think of me. I am loved, beautiful, pre-approved by God. He made me just the way I am, I am His. I need to get rid of all my insecurities.
I want to see myself as preapproved to take the next step of obedience in my life that God is calling me to and stop worrying about whether I will succeed or fail-instead trust in Him!
What an honor it is to have been adopted into Christ’s family and to be a child of God. Too often we forget that He created us just the way He wanted us to be and that He loves us and is faithful even when we are not faithful.
Thankful for your ministry and blogs…it is so important to find, believe, and accept our true identity in Jesus. He is the only One who remains constant, trustworthy and His love is unconditional. People’s feelings and thoughts are ever-changing – our God is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Thanks for your give-away offer. Thanks for the encouragement and wonderful reminder of our true identity!
I have ZERO confidence and it would be great if I could think different and know that I am pre approved
I can tell myself I am good enough but feeling it in my heart is the struggle. Being a good enough mom so my childen make Godly decisions. Being a good enough wife. And the list continues. I have to daily tell myself we are not all the same. What a boring world it would be if we were. So embrace my difference as good enough and I am what God created me to be.
I’m pre-approved by God is just what I needed to hear today with where I’m at on my healing journey. After surviving a evil system.
I need to remember I am loved and preapproved in all areas of my life.
Thank you for the positive reminder that we all are beautiful, pre-approved, and accepted by God. However, my whole life I have struggled with never feeling accepted, beautiful, or part of the popular crowd that seems never ending even as an adult. I would rather follow God than be part of the popular crowd that doesn’t, but still never manage to feel adequate or good enough to do anything or to be accepted by others. I really have been battling this lately. My feelings of inadequacy led me down a horrible road of drugs years ago in order to cope, but I have been clean for almost 10 years but it haunts me. No matter how hard I pray or tell myself how much God loves me, it doesn”t sink in. I hope this book may help, thank you for offering it even if I don’t get selected to win it. Bless you and your ministries
Thanks Renee for the touching so many lives. it made me smile as the message entered my heart, “I am preapproved by God” WOW…
Hi Renee,
We’re just finishing up your Confident Hearts study. Perhaps this would be a next good one? Would LOVE your thoughts for a smallish 4-5 gal group. Thanks; we’ve just loved your devotional.
Peace friend,
Bridget
IN MY ROLE AS A WIFE
I was not raised with my brothers and sisters (9 of us altogether) and I always felt like I didn’t really have any valute. (I also was told that.) I am still learning that I do have value and I am not a throwaway but rather a daughter of God and I do have a family (church). I still have to remind myself of these things. I downloaded the book and devotional of Confident Heart and am taking the course again myself this time. It has really helped me. Thank you so much for making me feel like I am a part of God’s kingdom and that I really am pre-approved by God.
.
I could pick from many areas but my lifelong struggle is with my weight and how I feel about my body. It was passed down to me and my biggest prayer is that I don’t pass negative self image patterns to my children and especially my sweet daughter. I wAnt her to know and in want to know for myself that I am deeply loved, she is deeply loved no matter our size. God has made us beautiful on the inside and out but he is most concerned with our hearts and who we are to the world. That’s my prayer for my family.
Blessed to be pre approved! Some days so hard to wrap that around my mind and to just live in His love and grace for me. I just want more Jesus!
Thanks for the reminder we are pre approved. At the moment I need this as we sit in the emergency room. Our daughters feeding tube came out We are waiting and feeling guilty … Again. So great to remember God loves us no matter what
Enough?
When I was younger I never was concerned about what others thought. I was determined, focused, and pushing toward doing for God. I was so sure I could be a perfect Christian and made an agreement to that end. Then one day I realized that I was doing for God and was terrified that I was not perfect for God, my parents or any other believer that I wanted to think I was THE BEST. God has been working at ripping out the weeds and sin and idols that have grown in my heart. It is hard and I struggle with anxiety and depression in the midst. I know God is able and I am cooperating with Him in the learning. This is hard work, but very rewarding to be clean before God. I read the Forward to this book and I would love to have a copy to study.
Thank you for the reminder of how God sees us! I feel I fall short in so many ways, but, I need to remember, I’m pre-approved!
Where is the stamp and ink pad to stamp it on our hands. To show that a great price has been paid for us all.
Oh wow! I have been struggling with depression for the last couple of years and with this winter being so long it just got worse! I finally opened up to the ladies of our church, after not going since before Christmas, on our ladies FB page about my struggles, opening up to them in a way I never thought possible! After my sharing I was contacted personally by another church sister that she too is struggling but had not shared with anyone either. Then today I found out 2 more church sisters are struggling! I hate asking prayer for myself!! But by opening up and making myself vulnerable it seems to be a much needed opening up which I can see now was what God has been wanting me to do for sometime! Thanks to Proverbs31 Ministries for all the encouragement I receive daily and am able to share with my sisters at church!
Blessings!
Veda
Weight! Definitely weight!! Other things also but weight is #!. I just don’t feel beautiful or confident these days but I am working on it… Thank you for reminding me that God loves me just as I am.
Thanks Renee – Proverbs 31 always has the most amazing topics!
Like the majority of women, I have issues feeling “God approved” when I look at myself naked in the mirror. In my heart I know that what’s on the inside matters more than the outside, but I still do not feel worthy of God’s (or anyone’s love) when I feel so weak that I cannot convince myself to work out and/or stick to a more nutritious meal plan.
Thank you Renee! What at timely topic! God has been leading me through a process of recognizing areas in my life where I am bowing down to idols and instead need to look up to my Heavenly Father as my source. I want to stand up straight, connected to My Creator, not bent over serving the world as a master. Am very interested in the book you are recommending, “Love Idol: Letting Go of Approval and Seeing Yourself through God’s Eyes.” Thanks for letting us know about it :-).
I like being pre-apporoved.
I struggle with accepting God’s unconditional love for me. I need to saturate my mind with God’s truths about His love for me instead of allowing the old tapes from childhood that play in my head that anything I attempted was never good enough. I strived for perfection to please in all things and never seemed to achieve the mark. This effected my self-esteem greatly and instilled in me a fear of failure, rarely wanting to venture out of my comfort zone for fear of not measuring up, being humiliated or exposed as inadequate. I pray with God’s help I will be victorious and overcome these inadequate feelings and see myself as God sees me, fearfully and wonderfully made, beautiful, loved, cherished, treasured and usable for His kingdom work.
As I scroll down to get to the place where I can leave my comment, it strikes me just how many of us there are,who have believed the lie that Satan whispered to us somewhere in our life that we were ‘less than’…..thank you for reminding us all of the truth that we all are pre-approved, chosen, are loved extravagantly, and all that we need to do is believe and live in this truth!
I would have to say the appearance of my body is where I have the most difficulty feeling approved.
I would like to see myself as God sees me instead of how I see myself after abuse. If I had to choose one thing it would be innocently pure. I wrote the following poem that includes how I feel about myself. I wonder what God sees and what he is shaping me to be.
My life is a puzzle created by a loving God
Starting out as a breathtaking masterpiece
Flawless, unique, pristine, and pure
Untouched by the sin of the world
Crumbled into fragments under the pressure of life
Now wrecked with missing pieces
After effects of unwelcome abuse –
Ashamed, embarrassed, humiliated
Confused, degraded, guilt-ridden,
Frightened, anxious, angry,
Insecure, inadequate, undesirable,
Depressed, hopeless, despairing,
Withdrawn, hesitant, secretive,
Distrustful, suspicious, apprehensive,
The original left shattered and damaged.
Busy restoring His work of art,
Gently loving and waiting patiently
Healing the pain and nursing the wounds
Slowly and deliberately refurbishing
Replacing the pieces-
Broken, missing, scratched, and neglected
Gradually enhancing its magnificence
Bringing the puzzle back to life
That is my creator God – a Virtuoso!
Amen
I am loved by The Lord. So ermines I move away but in my heart I know He is there. When I feel unloved, I seem to pull away from others.
I’m 54 years old. I still struggle with insecurities and tend to feel that I’m not a good enough person in many areas of my life. The other day my boyfriend said to me, God thinks of you as his beautiful daughter, but you don’t see it. I need to work on that.
This is very hard to do when you have an Earthly Father that doesn’t love you, probably hasn’t ever loved you, was absent, neglectful, abusive, alcoholic, and addicted, and doesn’t care whether you are alive or dead, hurt or hurting. I thank God everyday that I have a Heavenly Father that does care however. Helps you get through those very difficult times when you feel all alone in the world. One area??????? Impossible to determine.
I would’ve to see myself as valuable. To be worthy. To be able to contribute to God’d kingdom in a meaningful way.
Greetings to everyone. My area of feeling unapproved and ugly too is my body. I have been grossly overweight since I was 8 years old – 58 years. I accept my face and hair but cannot believe that God could call my body beautiful. Tears right now, but I am more able to believe that I am beautiful on the inside now.
God Bless, Laurel
It’s hard to remember I am a princess , a child of the king, when I so often tell myself I am a slug…thinks for the encouragement to do better.
Having grown up in an alcoholic home, I lived with strife, rejection etc. I am not a young woman but I still find myself feeling a lot of ingrown negativity. I so appreciate A Confidant Heart and all that the ladies at Proverbs 31 ministries do. Thank you so much. God bless you with all you need to keep on keeping on.
Thank you. I am in a phase now that I am not good enough for lots of things. I try to be good enough but always feel that someone else is better.
Oh my I love this! I spent years in the “never good enough” cycle. Then I found God, formed a relationship with my Heavenly Papa, who loves me. Now I know He always did, no matter what, I am Pre-Aproved!. Thank you Renee for your book “A Confident Heart” and your online study. It helped me SO MUCH on my journey to overcome, to gain strength and confidence. Thank you Jesus for coming to save me!
I struggle with low self esteem with my looks,feelings of worthlessness ,also feeling like there will never be a man to love me just because.I have been one to always try and fit in with any and everyone and now I just mostly stay to my self.I try to lift others up but it’s hard to encourage myself at times and know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Thank you for these words. I am struggling with my image and the need to lose weight. For health reasons, I need to work on getting rid of a few pounds. You reminded me that I am still beautiful in God’s eyes and he will be with me on my journey – cheering me along the way. Blessings to you and all our fellow sisters in Christ
I’d love to see myself as “beautiful” like God does. I find myself fat, ugly, and repulsive. 🙁
Thanks for the reminder. When you are the one who is in leadership, everyone looks to you to have it ‘all together’. AND that is not always true. I struggle with weight issues and try not to allow the world to dictate how I should look, but I falter. I struggle with being a ‘man-pleaser’ —wanting to be liked and loved, all the while KNOWING that God loves me, so I shouldn’t look to man to satisfy what only He can. BUT, I AM PRE-APPROVED—God knew what He was getting when He called me. Thanks for the post today, it was needed. I love what you do for the ladies of the Lord.
I just want to feel loved and accepted.
a few areas unfortunately – not good enough – didn’t do enough with my life – not good enough – still renting after al these years, others look with disdain and disbelief LOSER
I know God things otherwise in my head, hard to feel it in my inner being
I know God planned everything about me when I was created and I’m so thankful HE adores me….but I am a soft heart and feel deeply about others and life and that can sometimes be so painful when in the company of those who think soft heart’s are nonsense.I desire to encourage others and I know this is just how God made me, but I would truly like to change the need for approval from the people with the temperament that is opposite from mine. Granted this doesn’t happen often , but it seems God has put this type of person in my path often over the years so I’m pretty sure God is trying to grow me beyond this. I’m so thankful He never gives up on us. He is my anchor.
One area I need to see myself as God sees me is…the feeling that I am “good enough” and “smart enough” to be used.
I need to KNOW this, in my heart, not just in my head. Because every day I am reminded of those lies that not just the enemy has fed to me since I was a child, but the ones I feed myself- and believe. I cannot imagine feeling, or ever BEING *enough*…. for my children, for my husband, and definitely not for God- the one I want & need to be enough FOR!! Thanks for this opportunity and for this book!!