Just The Way You Are

There are countless youth today who are sad and lonely. Many of them are bright kids with wonderful personalities, but somewhere along the way, they have been made to feel like they don’t measure up to the peers that they consider "got it going on". Every attempt to blend in result in being made fun of or just plain ignored. So they just withdraw altogether, and accept themselves as "ugly" and "worthless".

It is vitally important for us to understand that God loves us just the way we are. He loves our hair, nose, eyes and ears. In fact, in His eyes we are His masterpiece. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them Ephesians 2:10. God has His own reasons for why we look the way that we do, but there is way more to us than our physical appearance.

God made us in Hs own image. When we look in the mirror, we may see someone that pales in comparison to the cheerleaders or the sports star. But God has eternal eyes. He sees things so much clearer than we do. He knows the part of our lives that need the most attention, and His assessment may not be the same as ours.

I don’t mean to downplay your disappointments and frustrations, because everything going on in your life is extremely important to God. But even the most difficult circumstances we face have a purpose (see Romans 8:28).

We live in a world that focuses on the external things. They value how we look, what we wear and where we live. Yet they care little about what is on the inside of us. But the inside things are what makes us the person we are, and that’s what God is most concerned about.

If we have friends that ridicule us because of our looks, we need better friends. Throughout the bible, many people were mocked and belittled. It wasn’t easy for them, but they refused to compromise. I realize that it’s hard when someone is making fun of us, but we cannot control what others do. But we can control ourselves.

Above all, we need to accept ourselves the way we are. God made our bodies, so let’s accept it the way that it is. If we eat healthy, exercise and focus on our relationship with Christ. The rest will take care of itself. (read Romans 12:1)

By: Edmund Brown