Devotional Day 5: Accepting Yourself

• Psalms 139:14 : "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."

• 1 Samuel 16:7 : "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
• We all battle with acceptance at some point in our lives. One thing that's important to remember is that God made you just the way you needed to be. Be a beautiful person on the inside. Appreciate what God sees, not what you think you should be.

     In Psalms 139:14 it brings praise to the Lord for making each one of us the way we did. Its an important thing to give thanks to how He made us. We were "fearfully and wonderfully made", a walking work of art by God Himself. Another thing to realize that's in this verse is its reference to the soul. Beauty isn't just something you see from the outside. Your soul must be beautiful. Appreciate the complexity of our spirit. When you appreciate how God has made you and others that inner beauty shines through you. Life isn't about material things. It shouldn't be about a physical competition with other people. Whether its girls who think they need to lose weight or guys who think the need to work out more, we all search for ways we think we should be. We strive for a physical beauty goal. I think its important that we work just as hard on our hearts, minds, and souls as we do our outer appearance. Don't get me wrong! Everyone like to look good. It makes you feel good when you have nice clothes or you have a good hair day. There's nothing wrong with appreciating outer appearance. We just can't forget to work on our inner beauty just as hard.

     In 1 Samuel 16:7 it shows that God values you for the person you are on the inside, not the person everyone else sees on the outside. He focuses on our hearts. He focuses on genuineness, on compassion, understanding, empathy, strength, determination, discipline, all powerful character traits that make up a beautiful soul. In the end, looks can get you many places, but its what's inside that makes others value you. Be confident in yourself, love yourself. Be secure in knowing that you were made just the way God wanted you. Everyone is beautiful in their own special way.

                                                               Questions/Application

• How can you work to improve your inner beauty?
• What are things about yourself that you appreciate that God gave you both inside and out?
• When is a time you've shown acceptance of someone else? How do you think it made them feel?