“You Are Beautifully Imperfect!”

“So God created man in HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27 AMP)

Imagine the following scene: Holding her hair back with one hand, the woman kneels and leans forward to drink from the clear pool of water. As her cupped hand reaches for the clear liquid, she draws back, startled. Who is the long-haired stranger staring back at her in the waters reflection?

Perhaps even since the time Eve first caught sight of her reflection in the Garden of Eden, women have dealt with the question of Image.

Polls consistently reveal that the majority of us are dissatisfied, to say the least, with our appearance. Not to mention being confronted daily with a barrage of airbrushed photos of supermodels and celebrities adorning magazine covers, further aiding the “average woman” to think she is too short, too fat, too dark, too light, too unattractive, too imperfect etc...

Now, some will say “but we’re Christian Women, we shouldn’t think like this.” Well, in that case, what do you do when even in the BIBLE you’re confronted with a long list of “physically beautiful women” staring you in the face?

1. SARAH: “Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look. We both know that you’re a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN…” (Genesis 12:10-11 MSG);

2. RACHEL: “Now Laban had two daughters; Leah was the older and Rachel the younger. Leah had nice eyes, but Rachel was STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL…” (Genesis 29:16-17 MSG);

3. TAMAR (Absalom’s sister): “Prince Absalom, David’s son, had a BEAUTIFUL sister named Tamar…” (2 Samuel 13:1 TLB);

4. TAMAR (Absalom’s daughter): “He had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who was a VERY BEAUTIFUL GIRL.” (2 Samuel 14:27 TLB);

5. BATHSHEBA: “One night he couldn’t get to sleep and went for a stroll on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of UNUSUAL BEAUTY taking her evening bath. He sent to find out who she was and was told that she was BATHSHEBA, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah.” (2 Samuel 11:2-3 TLB);

6. ABIGAIL: “His name was Nabal and his wife, a BEAUTIFUL and very intelligent woman, was named Abigail…” (1 Samuel 25:3 TLB);

7. ABISHAG THE SHUNAMMITE: “So they searched the country from one end to the other to find the MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN ALL THE LAND. Abishag, from Shunam, was finally selected…” (1 Kings 1:3 TLB);

8. VASHTI: “On the final day when the king was feeling high, half drunk from wine, he told the seven eunuchs who were his personal aides – Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas – to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown upon her head so that all the men could gaze upon her BEAUTY – FOR SHE WAS A VERY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.” (Esther 1:10-11 TLB);

9. JOB’S DAUGHTERS: “…He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first daughter Dove, the second, Cinnamon, and the third Darkeyes. There was not a woman in that country as BEAUTIFUL AS JOB’S DAUGHTERS…” (Job 42:12-15 MSG);

10. THE BELOVED: “I am dark but BEAUTIFUL…” (Song of Solomon 1:5 TLB);

11. ESTHER: “This man had a BEAUTIFUL and lovely young cousin, Hadassah (called Esther), whose father and mother were dead, and whom he had adopted into his family and raised as his own daughter.” (Esther 2:7 TLB).

What do you do as an “average woman” and you’re daily being bombarded with beautiful (granted, mostly airbrushed) women on various magazine covers? Not to mention, women IN THE BIBLE, who are called Stunningly Beautiful, Beautiful and Intelligent, Most Beautiful In All The Country, Most Beautiful In All The Land, and to top it off even Unusual Beauty?! How can we ever measure up with the media’s standards of perfection? Or even the physical beauty found throughout the countless pages of Scripture?

Well, the first chapter of the Bible supplies the answer. We were created in the Image of one Paradigm of Perfection: OUR CREATOR!

Our height, weight and skin color may indicate our human origins, but our Soul and Spirit Reflect Our Sovereign God! Who Can Compete With That?!

Now, when a child is born, it’s not unusual for someone to claim she’s the very “Image” of a relative. But what does it mean to be created in the Image of Our Heavenly Father? Or better yet, in the Image and Likeness of the Fullness of the God-Head?!

Well, an “Image” is a “Likeness or Resemblance, as in a Reflection Seen in a Mirror”. Scripture therefore teaches that Jesus Christ is the “…EXACT LIKENESS of the unseen God…” (Colossians 1:15 TLB). And as we continue to grow in faith, we who believe will likewise gradually “…reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord, who is the Spirit, transforms us into his LIKENESS in an ever greater degree of glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 GNT). In a nutshell: When we become like Jesus, we begin to look more and more like Our Heavenly Father. Which means we have more work to do on our Inner Beauty than our Outer! And I know they say “Fruit” is good for the body, but it’s even better for the soul and spirit! “But the FRUIT of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…” (Galatians 5:22-23) It’s your inner beauty that will reflect the beautiful image of the God-head, not your outer beauty!

Truth is, “Cover Girl” can only cover but so much, for so long. Which is why you need to Beautify Your Spirit! After All, How Will Beautifying Your Body Help the Body of Christ, Look More Spiritually Beautiful? Remember: We Serve a God Who Is SPIRIT! Therefore, We Must Focus On Our Spirit! “God is a SPIRIT: and they that worship Him must worship Him in SPIRIT and truth.” (John 4:24).

God created us to convey the distinctive imprint of His divine nature to a world often blinded to His existence. As the people of God, we are Designed to be Distinct: “But the Lord shall make a DISTINCTION between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites” (Exodus 9:4 AMP) So, why continuously try Fitting In when you’ve always been designed to Distinctly Stand Out?! Remember: Distinction is a Blessing, Different is an Honor!

And guess what? Even our Differences reflect the One who delighted in creating a world of dazzling Diversity. Think about it: We have peculiar penguins and flashy flamingos; majestic eagles and clucking chickens; towering redwoods and dwarfed pines; long and short hair; straight and kinky hair; brown and blue eyes; dark-skin and light-skin; blondes, brunettes, redheads, gray-streaks and everything in between. Furthermore, some women are comfortable in jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers, and yet others shine brighter than the sun with their tailored, rhinestone suits and stilettos’! Some women have 20/20 vision, others if they didn’t wear magnifying glasses on their faces wouldn’t be able to see a stop sign. Some go to the gym daily, others are couch potatoes. Some like to go to the movies, dining out and dancing, while others prefer pajama’s, a head scarf and ordering in pizza! We like every genre of music, movies, vacations, colors, style etc. And that’s just how our Creator created us…DIVERSE, DIFFERENT, DISTINCT, UNIQUE, ODD and any other term you can think of! And that’s okay, why? Because every person is created with their own individual imprint of the Creator’s hand to bear His image!  

Just as the Seasons are Distinct (Summers’ Heat; Winters’ Cold; Springs’ Flowers; and Falls’ Leaves) so are we Beautifully Distinct in our Diversity!

Remember this Scripture: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9).

That word “Peculiar” means “Strange, Different or Odd”. But its Latin Origin “Peculiaris” from “Peculium” literally means “Of Private Property.” How Awesome is that?! You, with your Peculiar, Strange, Different and Odd Self are Still God’s Private Property!

In addition, the word “Strange” means “Unusual, Not Previously Visited, Seen, or Encountered, Unfamiliar”. It’s French Origin “Estrange”, from Latin “Extraneus” literally means “External Strange”. Sisters, Be glad you are NOT like anybody else, nor do you need to compete or compare yourself! Truth is, Yes, You are Strange! You are Unusual, No One Has Ever Seen YOU before because there has only been and will only be YOU! And with all the “External” stuff you don’t like about your appearance, it’s actually what makes you Uniquely, Stunningly, Unusually Beautiful! You are like no one else, and no one else is like you! And That’s a Good Thing!

Sisters, you are “Different” and the word “Different” means “Not the Same as Another; Distinct” Like it or not, you my sister are not like anyone else, and no one else is like you! I reiterate, And That’s a Good Thing!

So, the next time you began to become “Image Conscious” remember this: “Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God – You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration – what a creation! You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (Psalm 139:13-16 MSG) Sister-Girl, if that don’t make you feel Special nothing else will!

Lastly, remind yourself that IN THE END, it will be the DIVERSE that remain! “After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of EVERY NATION, FROM ALL TRIBES AND PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” (Revelation 7:9 AMP)

It’s not all the long haired, size 2, light-skin, pretty women that will stand before the throne. But there will be women from all ages, complexions, races, hair, eye and skin types that will stand there. They will have varying educational backgrounds, marital statuses, different amounts of children or no children at all. Those who had clear skin, those who had acne; those who had stretch marks, those who had perfect abs. In other words, diversity is a good thing, for if you think about it, that is the essence of Heaven. People from anywhere and everywhere entering this one place and dwelling in harmony together there forever. And since that is our ultimate goal, why not start practicing now by learning to love ourselves (imperfections and all), and love our neighbors just the same.

Just a thought: How about we stop competing and comparing and simply learn the beautiful art of contentment?

In a nutshell: Learn to love you for who, what and where you are, and to love others just the same. You, as well as others, are beautifully imperfect. Your flaws when seen through the right perspective are actually beauty marks. Your scars are badges of honor, that prove you are a soldier that fought and survived, even if you didn’t always win.

So the next time you get caught up in the latest fashion, magazine ‘perfect’ cover model, flawless hair, makeup, smile and size…remember this instead: “So God created man in HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27 AMP)

It is absolutely impossible to be created in the image of God and think that He made a mistake!

“By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.” (Edwin Elliot)

“There is Nothing More Rare, Nor More Beautiful, Than a Woman Being Unapologetically Herself; Comfortable in Her Perfect Imperfection. To Me, That is the True Essence of Beauty.” (Dr. Steve Maraboli)

“We are all wonderful, beautiful wrecks. That’s what connects us – that we’re all broken. All beautifully imperfect.” (Emilio Estevez)

“Imperfection is Beautiful.” (Pinterest)

“When your flaws are stitched together with good intentions, your flaws make you beautiful.” (Pinterest)

“I’m perfectly imperfect, beautiful in my flaws, sure of my insecurities, absolute chaos, a beautiful disaster.” (Pinterest)

“She is a beautiful piece of broken pottery, put back together by her own hands and a critical world judges her cracks while missing the beauty of how she made herself whole again.” (JM Storm)

“She’s not perfect, she is madness. And madness is a beautiful irony where perfection and flaws are the best of friends.” (JM Storm)

“People were made to be Imperfect and Different, that’s why the word Original was invented.” (Pinterest)

“I am nothing; I am but an instrument, a tiny pencil in the hands of the Lord with which He writes what He likes. However imperfect we are, He writes beautifully.” (Mother Teresa)

“I love imperfection. I love laugh lines. I love a face irregularly sprinkled with freckles. I love sweatpants and bare feet. I love it when makeup gets smudged from wiping happy tears. I love off-white teeth. I love big, loud laughs. I love reading poetry someone’s scared to share. I love mismatched eyebrows. I love the weird conversations people have late at night or early in the morning. People ask, ‘why? Why do you love imperfection so much?’ I tell them why. Imperfection is beautiful. Imperfection is honesty. Imperfection means a person is real (being real is rare). That is why I love imperfection.” (Tasha Double)

“She was BEAUTIFUL, but not like those girls in magazines. She was beautiful, for the way she thought. She was beautiful for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful, for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn’t beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

“There’s no need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfections.” (Pinterest)

“Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” (Pinterest)

“I always find beauty in things that are Odd and Imperfect – they are much more interesting.” (Marc Jacobs)

“Your imperfections are marks of authenticity – and that is the beauty of you.” (Isaac King Fowler)

“Being perfect is being flawed, accepting it and never letting it make you feel less than your best.” (Jessica Alba)

Much Love, Dr.Shermaine #HealthyBodySoulAndSpirit #BeEncouragedBeautiful

"It's Not Selfish to Love Yourself, Take Care of Yourself and to Make Your Happiness a Priority. It's a Necessity." (Mandy Hale)

"Self-Care is Not Selfish. You Cannot Serve From an Empty Vessel." (Eleanor Brown)