like amanda, i had an epiphany of my own today. i was watching Days of Our Lives (yeh heh) and the scenario is that this girl has scars on her face from this accident, and her boyfriend loves her so much that he doesn't see the scars, he sees her inner beauty. So today, she was looked in the mirror as she usually does, and she didn't see her scars! She was so elated! She ran to tell her boyfriend and he told her something to this effect: "It's because you are finally seeing you for who you are, not what you look like. I was wondering when this was going to happen. You're finally seeing yourself the way that I see you."

and it hit me. that is how God feels. how He wants us to see ourselves. through His eyes, not through the world's. He knows the pain we have felt, the scars we have acquired throughout life, but he doesn't see it when He looks at us. He sees that we are beautiful the way we are, for the beauty of our hearts and the people that we are trying to be. He doesn't care that we always mess up. He never has! if He did, He would have given up on humans a long time ago.

so i guess what i'm trying to say, is try to see yourself from God's eyes tomorrow, then the next day, then everyday. you are BEAUTIFUL, created in His image. if that wasn't a good and perfect thing to be modeled after, i don't know what is! if we can see ourselves the way God sees us, in the light of unconditional love, i feel that we can have more confidence in ourselves and who we are in Christ. we can't let our culture, that bombards us with images of perceived, air-brushed beauty, get to us and tell us that we are inferior. because we aren't.

i feel: loved
i hear: Casting Crowns - Your Love Is Extravagant