Learning to Love Yourself

Two weeks ago, I was surrounded by 800 fellow Christian women in my community while attending the Choose Love retreat hosted by Choose Ministries. We focused on loving ourselves, others, and our Lord and Savior. It was indeed a unique and empowering experience that I was blessed to be part of, and I thought I would take the month of May to share some insights into what I learned and how we can all take away some tools for self-reflection and improvement. For this week's blog, I am going to address loving yourself.

I know what you are thinking, and believe me, I get it. Loving yourself is undoubtedly a loaded concept, and it is much easier said than done. If I am being sincere, it is far too easy for me to look in front of a mirror and start to point out all my flaws; believe me, it is a long list. I start thinking about how I am too short or heavy, don't like my haircut, am too pale, etc. I do this all the time, and don't even get me started on trying on swimsuits. Now I know I am not alone as a woman; we are very prone to do this and often let what others say impact our appearance. It is so easy to do when you read a hateful comment from someone on social media when a "well-meaning" friend asks if you are sure you do not rather have a salad. I have a friend who is a Christian influencer and posts makeup and funny videos on social media, and I have always enjoyed them; however, the other day, she shared that a man made a hateful comment simply about her physical appearance. How do we not take those types of comments to heart when often the very part of your appearance you are so self-conscious about is what they are commenting on? How do we let it roll off us as though it never stung, to begin with? How do we learn to love ourselves despite our flaws?

Now for me, this will always be a work in progress. Living with a rare medical condition that impacts my physical appearance, I know that part of me will always feel self-conscious. I know I will never be a supermodel, thin or tall. I am never going to be the prettiest woman in the room. Indeed, I will never be on Chris Evans's arm. I mean, a girl can dream, though, right? Although I am far from perfect and will always have those insecurities sneaking up on me, I am uniquely made and was chosen by God for a reason. When I feel those Insecurities start to surface or read a negative comment on social media, I focus on this and know that while I will never be perfect, I am perfect in Jesus' eyes, and it brings me peace and serenity to move on with my day.

So ladies, the next time you feel self-conscious and those moments of negativity start to creep up, remember that you are a child of God and will always be perfect in his eyes. Also, when you read those negative comments on social media, say a prayer for them because it says more about them and their view of themselves than it says about you. If that doesn't work you can always take a play out of my southern family and friends' playbook and say bless your heart.