GUEST POST: All Things Beautiful by Cat from This Little Life of Mine

I am so happy to be featuring Cat from This Little Life of Mine today. She is such a sweet woman of God and I am so excited for you to read what she has to share about the Lord and our self-image. Take it away!

Hello BEAUTIFUL friends!  I just want to start out by reminding us all we ARE beautiful. {GOD SAID SO} God formed each of you in your mothers womb and He creates everything beautiful.

When Rubi asked me to share with you my beliefs on the importance of our self image in our relationship with God.  I just have to be honest here.  I loved her idea and I couldn't wait to get started.   

One of the first things I did when I started blogging at the end of last year was I shared my testimony.  If you read it you will notice one of the things that was so prominent in my life was my struggle with depression....and my self image or should I say the lack of was always there.  Here is the thing, I have always struggled with my self image AND I STILL DO..... 

I have never been the girl everyone thought was the prettiest.  My friends may tell me I am pretty but I always wonder if they just say that to be nice or since we are friends.  I have never been the girl who likes what she sees in the mirror or had a stranger tell me how beautiful I was, etc.  And to be honest I used to covet those girls who I felt had that.  I wanted their image. But I do believe now there is something we all struggle with...we are all fighting our battles.  This is just one battle among many I am choosing to defeat in order to strengthen my relationship with God. 

So that being said, this post is a very personal one for me and something I feel strongly about.  I cannot tell you how many times I have written a draft only to delete it and start over (I seem to have a love/hate relationship with my "publish" or in this case copy,paste.and send).  I have prayed and prayed and shed tears...tears of pain and tears of joy.  I pray that this post will help someone...anyone.  And again just being honest looking back now I feel I was asked to write this also to remind and help myself.  This has been a blessing and I hope to pass it on to many of you. 

I want us all {myself included} to benefit from this post so please pray with me as you read.

There have been MANY factors in my life that I feel have influenced my self image and there are things I still cannot answer.  But as I have turned my life to God there is one thing I do know and can answer. 

THERE IS HOPE IN GOD. 

When we give our lives to God do we not put all trust in Him? Are we not suppose too?   In a healthy relationship with God we fully give ourselves to Him.  We are not to fear or worry.  We are to love as He loves. 

I completely trust Him but how can I honestly say this if I think I am ugly and have a horrible self image?  How can I truly believe everything He has created is so amazing and beautiful if I don't believe this about myself?  I am guilty.  Everyday I look around in amazement at how great our God is and "wow" at how beautiful His creations are...but I have not noticed myself!Starting now lets make a promise to remember WE ARE BEAUTIFUL!!  You see, I am pretty sure God didn't make myself or anyone else an exception to all things being made beautiful.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 tell us that He created all things BEAUTIFUL.  If we want to fully put our faith in Jesus and trust our Lord, we have to believe in it all....NOT just the parts that work for us.  So we have to know we are beautiful inside and out.  He would of never said it if it wasn't so important to Him. God does not lie.  He is perfect in all of his ways, including his created beings.  We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" says Psalms 139:14. We do not get to pick which parts of the Bible we want to believe. We have to take each word of God as serious as another.  God loves us ALL and we are called to love like He does. So, we are NOT the exception.  We can't just love others....we have to love ourselves to love like He does.

So while I may not be able to fully explain how important our self image is to our relationship with God...{I have a hard time explaining myself}...I hope I have at least helped someone realize their beauty.  Remember you are NOT the exception to God's perfection in all things created!

I often use music to say things I cant figure out the words to say myself.  So here is a song I LOVE and  I feel says it so well.  I get chills each time I hear it and I may or may not tear up. ;)