How Do You Speak About Yourself? By Lisa Burkhardt Worley

This is my favorite time of year. What about you? Thinking it is safe to plant, I’ve started potting a few flowers here and there, and I’m beginning the process of taking away the dead to make room for new growth. I love God’s creation. It is enough for me to know he exists and that He loves us so much that he provided scenic beauty to surround us.

However, one thing we often forget is that we are God’s creation as well. We aren’t always so complimentary about the way we appear, are we? What do you think when you pass by a mirror?

Just this week someone posted a photo of me on Facebook and my first thought is, I look fat in the picture so I didn’t allow it on my Timeline. However, there are photos of me that I dished ten years ago, and now when I look at them, I say, “I guess I’m not as ugly as I thought I was.” That is proof that I am hyper-critical when it comes to my appearance. What about you?

I am currently reading a book, The power of Your Words by Robert Morris. It’s been out for a while but it’s new to me. In it, Morris says when someone uses profane language or curses, they are actually placing a curse on what they are being profane about. Then I thought, What if every time we say something negative about our appearance, we actually make it worse?

Think about it.

I’m fat. Then the scale tips a little more the next day.

I’m ugly. A blemish appears.

My face has too many lines. The lines deepen.

That’s scary to consider, but if we are speaking against the way we look, in a sense we are condemning ourselves. So if that could be true, then the converse could also be true. Try looking in the mirror and say:

I’m beautiful because God created me.

With God’s help and discipline, I’m on my way to being in shape.

These lines add character to my face.

What if we flipped how we speak about ourselves?

Perhaps someone spoke negatively about your appearance in the past. Don’t believe it! Break the curse by believing you are a beautiful child of God. I love Philippians 4:8 that says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Is it right to cut ourselves down when we’re made in the image of God? I think our Maker wants us to appreciate His work of art, our bodies!

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:13–16).