Loving The Way God Made You
I find that as you grow older as a woman, you find more opportunities to grow and become the woman that God has made you to be. That growth and development requires us to consciously say yes to the growth process.
There’s a lot of learning and a lot of unlearning that has to take place, but at the same time it’s beautiful. There’s a beautiful song by DOE called Undoing that really encapsulates what this season can look like (see below). It takes a lot of undoing and unlearning as well as a lot of learning about the truth of God. Becoming the woman God has called and destined for you to be means putting in the work to be with Him.
One thing I love about the song is that she describes the process of change as a Christian as ‘marvellous undoing’! It’s so true! As we let go of the lies, and embrace God’s truth, it leads to a beautiful and marvellous undoing that sets us free.
Jesus even tells us in scripture, ‘28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30]
As we go to Christ, He will give us rest. You can give it all to Jesus and allow Him to shape and mould you into who you are called to be.
So…
How do you intentionally learn how to love the way God made you?
It all starts with the heart and mind. Yes, make up and good clothes can be a temporary fix, but if the internal work isn’t done then what’s the point. The true work starts when you submit everything to God and ask Him to take control. To help you see yourself the way He sees you. To help you walk in your gifting and purpose for His glory.
There are three key points
1] Spend time reading about how God loves His people
2] Choose to be positive
3] Speak well of yourself
Spend time reading about how God loves His people
When seeking scriptures, read them in the context they have been written and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to understand the relationship between God and His people. Read the Bible to learn more about who God is and through doing that, you’ll learn more about how our loving Heavenly Father sees you.
When Job has lost his property and children, his response was astounding…
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
He had LITERALLY just lost his property and children. He acknowledged the hurt and pain… and then he blessed the name of the Lord! Job knew about the goodness of God and the love of God.
Choose to be positive
Choosing to have a positive outlook on life, often leads to more happiness. The moments when you might feel down become minimal and instead you have more joyous moments where you thank the Lord for all He has done.
Celebrate the people that the Lord has placed in your life. Love on them and cherish them!
If work is tough, spin the complaining into thankfulness for having a job. Be intentional about guarding your heart and mind from complaining and instead build an attitude of thanksgiving where you fall in love with all the Lord is doing and allowing in your life.
Speak well about yourself
Those negative comments and the self-judgement… no honey, we can’t be doing that anymore. Speak well of yourself, you are a beautiful daughter of God, cherished, loved and fashioned together by the Lord, the creator of the whole world! God looked at you and was happy with the way He formed you!
It’s not just what you say about yourself that matters but also what you think about yourself. In the Bible, Paul talks about the importance of taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ [2 Corinthians 10:1-6].
Guard your mind and be intentional about recognising your thoughts. Think about yourself well. As you do this, you may even find that you end up being more loving towards other people too.
