Beautifully Salty Part 1: You Are Enough

You are an original and your body is a temple... not a trend

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! 18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Psalm 139: 13-18 NLT

The above scripture should remind us that we were made with intention, brought into existence, and approved by God himself. Days leading up to writing this blog post I grappled with my self-image. One minute I felt confident in who I was in God including my appearance, personality, etc., then suddenly a series of events made me question God’s blueprint for my body, identity, and destiny. It is during times like these we need to draw closer to God. We need to remember that God called his creations  “good” (Genesis 1) and that God does not make mistakes (Psalm 18:30). We also need to remember that spiritual warfare is real (Ephesians 6:12). The fog cleared once I realized that my sudden insecurity and anxiety were the signs of an attack meant to prevent me from writing this post. How ironic is it that I pre-titled this post “You Are Enough” and then, shortly after, I was bombarded by people and circumstances that made me feel anything but “enough”: difficult clients, criticism, nerve pain that lasted two weeks, and hormonal and skin issues. I had never felt more confident and gorgeous (NOT).

So what do you do when you feel not enough? Feed your ego with a social media post? Insult and attack other people? Go out and validate yourself with promiscuous behavior? Drink uncontrollably? Nope. We–the salt of the earth–admit that we need refreshment and go to the “living water” and source of life, Jesus (John 4:14 and 5:26). Thinking we can handle anything and everything leads to pride. Deciding to follow Christ and be salt to others requires daily checkups. In the past, I would despise myself for not being “better than this”. Now I realize that these scenarios reveal areas in my life that I am still struggling with and simultaneously provide opportunities to relinquish power in that area and submit the issue(s) to God. And by the way, this is a continuous process. This is why we are required to “die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). A sermon by a minister I admire (watch the sermon here) highlighted the root of the problem and the solution. I realized that I needed to decrease (let go of the remnants of a flawed self-image) and allow God to increase (by viewing myself through God’s eyes). 

We are flawed human beings and that’s okay. We are not meant to be self-sufficient or self-contained (the world we live in…the breath in our lungs…it all belongs to God). But as children of God through our relationship with Christ, we gain access to resources, power, and eternal life. Only God can complete us because we were designed to have a relationship with Him. So when that voice tells you you will never be enough you can laugh because… it’s true! I have found so much relief in acknowledging that I was never meant to be fully responsible for myself and you can too. You alone are not enough but you become more than enough in God; this is why we are instructed to dwell or make our home “in the secret place of the most High […] under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1-4 KJV).

The critical eyes and words of the world lose all power in the presence of God because God loves you as you are, the way He designed you. God does not assess beauty the way people do. Ugly in God’s eyes refers to ugly thoughts and behaviors exhibited by shallow and ungodly people (see 2 Corinthians 5:16 and 10:7; James 2:1 and 2:9, John 7:24 and 8:13-17; Mark 12:14). One thing I want you to understand is that “ugly” as the world sees it exists in opposition to what the world categorizes as “beautiful”. “Ugly” is a concept, not a fact, this is why standards of attractiveness versus unattractiveness vary throughout the world (even among people living in the same city) and fluctuate over time. God looked at the diversity in His creation and called it good. God loves diversity, so embrace your individuality instead of shying away from what makes you stand out.

In contrast to the world, God does not assess human beings using shallow standards. When choosing David to be King of Israel the Lord emphasized that He prioritizes the condition of a person’s heart above physical attributes (1 Samuel 16:7), and, despite his shortcomings, David is referred to as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:19-24). So the next time something or someone tries to kill your self-esteem and confidence remember that all aspects of your identity are rooted in your relationship with God (see Jeremiah 17:7; John 16:33; Philippians 4:13; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 27:1 and 118:8). Interestingly, it was David’s understanding of who he is in God and his faith in God (not his physicality or self-confidence) that brought down the overconfident giant named Goliath (1 Samuel 17:36-51). Goliath was full of pride and humbled while the humble David was elevated.

A similar transition of power occurred when Jesus humbly entered the world as the Lamb of God and was exalted through His servanthood (Philippians 2:8-11). This teaches us that experiences that remind us that we are not enough are meant to humble us and signal us to redirect our focus to God. For example, being made to feel unattractive is less about a personal attack on your appearance and more about an attack on God’s handiwork (it suggests that God got it wrong) and God’s temple (your body which is home to the Holy Spirit) (1 Corinthians 6:19). Remember that the primary goal of the enemy is to separate you from God by turning your focus on yourself and setting your heart against God. We saw this happen to Eve in the Garden of Eden when she was deceived into replacing God as the center of her life and making herself like God with disastrous results (Genesis 3:1-8).

In summary, a surefire way to feel “not enough” is to focus on yourself and your flaws. The first step to feeling wholly beautiful is asking God to free your body, spirit, and soul from the weights and worries of this world (Hebrews 12:1)–including the need to live up to ridiculous and ungodly human standards. In God’s eyes, your saltiness (that is what sets you apart) is your true beauty. In upcoming posts, we will talk about finding the beauty God instilled in you rather than looking outwardly and adopting worldly personas that mask the unique flavor God gave you and consequently cause you to lose the true purpose you were designed for (Matthew 5:13). Until then, stay beautifully salty!

33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 (NLT)