I’m a little jealous of those girls that are naturally beautiful. The ones that can throw up a messy bun and rub some cherry chapstick across their lips. You know that girl that wakes up looking like a paper doll that stepped right off the pages of a magazine.
Well, that ain’t me. Most days I look like one of those trolls you read about in school under the bridge trying to grab those goats. I am currently sitting on my couch with my Bible, coffee, mismatched pajamas and my hair so stiff from dry shampoo that I could make it stand up like Marge Simpson just by running my fingers through it. I will get dressed today…but I am only going to clean my house and work a little from home, so there won’t be any makeup, accessories or washing of the messy, Marge Simpson hair.
The truth is, whether I decide to wash my hair, do the makeup and wear a cute outfit…or just throw on my paint covered leggings and a comfy t-shirt…it doesn’t change who I am on the inside. I’m still the same me on the inside…just a little more put-together on the outside.
Remember, just because someone looks like they have it together doesn’t mean they do. Many times those that look the picture of perfection on the outside are the ones so very broken within the walls of their heart and mind. We have seen that played out recently with beautiful young women taking their own life when they looked as though they had everything to live for! The enemy wants nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy. He works so heavily on our minds which I believe are in such a weakened state because we are stretched thin, working too hard and pressured to keep up with those lives that we only get a glimpse of through social media.
Please read this carefully.
Be kind.
I know that these are simple words, but God says it’s one of the fruit spirit we find in Galatians 5. As a child of God they are inside of us, but sometimes we forget to let it manifest in our lives on the outside. Kindness plays such a huge part in the mental health of those around us, especially with our tongues. There is power of life and death i’m within it, friend. Hear me out…
You can fake an image, but you can’t fake fruit.
Our job as believers is to always display the fruit they places us in the garden of God. The fruit of the spirit should figuratively hang off the branches of our life, ripe for the picking from this world. Sometimes we forget that and then the enemy creeps in and whispers in our ear and it shakes us…’ causing fruit to fall on the ground to rot around us.
The ugliness of the enemy wants to diminish the beauty within you. Don’t allow him to have that power over you. Always let your light shine…even when your outside package doesn’t particularly look like what the world thinks it should. Know that no matter what is happening around you, God IS within you as a follower of Christ.
God is not concerned with your clothing or contour…but the content of your character. He knows your heart and doesn’t care if your shoes match your purse. However he does care that your life matches what He says in the Word. The world doesn’t see the tree and its branches as often as we think they do…they are more concerned with the fruit…that’s what is appealing (as bad as a I want to, I am leaving that pun alone). 🤣
No matter how hard we try, the mirror will always display a less than perfect image back to us…but our prayer should be through all the makeup…or lack thereof, the world sees a perfect Savior.
If you are struggling with your mental health and the enemy is working overtime on you, here are a few scriptures for you to meditate on and know that you are loved with an everlasting love. If your tongue gets the best of you (like it doesn’t me sometimes), I wanted to give you a few, too. There is no condemnation, just encouragement to be better.
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have to trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
1 John 4:9-10
“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Ephesians 4:29
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Colossians 3:13
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Galatians 5:22-24
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Download for coloring sheet available here.