Part 3: Love Thyself!
We can’t seem to run from the media, can we? You turn on the TV, there’s a tall, fit, tan, and immodestly dressed girl shaking her rear on a commercial. You see the same kind of girl on a billboard only this time she’s wearing a bikini, and sitting on a car. You turn on the radio, and there’s a man singing, “Look at your physique girl, you are a beauty. Well I am a beast. They must have been trippin’ to let me off a leash.” (Yes, these are lyrics from a real song. It’s very popular right now, too. The lyrics get much worse than this)
With so much of this information being shoved into our minds on a daily basis, it doesn’t surprise me that girls are feeling so bad about themselves. The media seems to describe (although, it’s slowly getting better) certain ways that they think a girl should look like, or that they should be immodest to be worth something. In the new “kids” movie, Rio, the main female character who is kind of nerdy doesn’t get “proper” attention from a guy until she wears a sexy outfit. We see this in real life quite a bit, too. A lot of girls feel that to get attention from guys to feel like she’s “loved”, she must dress immodestly or do things with him she knows are wrong.
I think we all know that these kinds of things aren’t going to give her the kind of love she needs and craves. We all know from the first lessons that as Christian girls God should be the first love of our life, and that we need to love our family. We also need to realize that God does want us to love ourselves. Some girls seem to have a mindset that if you love yourself, you’ll become arrogant. But, this really isn’t always the case. Sure, you can’t think so highly of yourself that you become a snob, but the key is to realize that you are imperfect (in actions and thought), but you love yourself anyway.
In the bible, the body is described as the temple of the Lord (1st Corinthians 16:9). Our bodies’ are not ours (which is contrary to popular belief), and God expects us to take care of them, and not abuse them. When you look at yourself in the mirror and call yourself ugly, you’re abusing your mind. When you commit sinful sexual relations with someone outside of marriage you’re abusing the temple (1st Corinthians 6:19). When you use drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, you’re abusing the temple of God. If you cut, or purposefully injure yourself, you are abusing the temple that God gave you.
Girls, why do we do these things to ourselves? All that these things do is avoid the real issues. Part of being a Christian is being honest with ourselves. We must examine ourselves to find out why we do these things so that we can overcome them. It is a commandment to do so (1st Corinthians 13:5). When we fail to examine ourselves and try to find where we fall short, a wall comes up between us and God as we try to find our own ways to cope.
Think for a moment. If you’re calling yourself ugly, why are you doing that? Is it because you have built up an unrealistic vision in your mind of what beautiful is? If you’re being promiscuous, are you trying to use that as a way to cope with long-term depression, or are you trying to find more “love”? The first can also go for drug use, and self-injury. When we sit down and face our problems (which is what God wants) we can ask Him for help with those issues. He’s not going to take them away, but He’s going to help give you a new perspective on yourself, as well as give you the tools you need to overcome whatever you’re dealing with.
With so much of this information being shoved into our minds on a daily basis, it doesn’t surprise me that girls are feeling so bad about themselves. The media seems to describe (although, it’s slowly getting better) certain ways that they think a girl should look like, or that they should be immodest to be worth something. In the new “kids” movie, Rio, the main female character who is kind of nerdy doesn’t get “proper” attention from a guy until she wears a sexy outfit. We see this in real life quite a bit, too. A lot of girls feel that to get attention from guys to feel like she’s “loved”, she must dress immodestly or do things with him she knows are wrong.
I think we all know that these kinds of things aren’t going to give her the kind of love she needs and craves. We all know from the first lessons that as Christian girls God should be the first love of our life, and that we need to love our family. We also need to realize that God does want us to love ourselves. Some girls seem to have a mindset that if you love yourself, you’ll become arrogant. But, this really isn’t always the case. Sure, you can’t think so highly of yourself that you become a snob, but the key is to realize that you are imperfect (in actions and thought), but you love yourself anyway.
In the bible, the body is described as the temple of the Lord (1st Corinthians 16:9). Our bodies’ are not ours (which is contrary to popular belief), and God expects us to take care of them, and not abuse them. When you look at yourself in the mirror and call yourself ugly, you’re abusing your mind. When you commit sinful sexual relations with someone outside of marriage you’re abusing the temple (1st Corinthians 6:19). When you use drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, you’re abusing the temple of God. If you cut, or purposefully injure yourself, you are abusing the temple that God gave you.
Girls, why do we do these things to ourselves? All that these things do is avoid the real issues. Part of being a Christian is being honest with ourselves. We must examine ourselves to find out why we do these things so that we can overcome them. It is a commandment to do so (1st Corinthians 13:5). When we fail to examine ourselves and try to find where we fall short, a wall comes up between us and God as we try to find our own ways to cope.
Think for a moment. If you’re calling yourself ugly, why are you doing that? Is it because you have built up an unrealistic vision in your mind of what beautiful is? If you’re being promiscuous, are you trying to use that as a way to cope with long-term depression, or are you trying to find more “love”? The first can also go for drug use, and self-injury. When we sit down and face our problems (which is what God wants) we can ask Him for help with those issues. He’s not going to take them away, but He’s going to help give you a new perspective on yourself, as well as give you the tools you need to overcome whatever you’re dealing with.
1 comment:
This is great Chelsea! Keep up the good work! Moms everywhere appreciate you!
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