The people in my life who know me well, know that I am a woman who wears makeup. 

Not a thick, heavy face. 

But I enjoy brightening up my appearance and have more confidence when I have the blemishes powdered and my mascara on. I feel more awake and pulled together. 

I’ve never seen it as a problem of my heart until this week. 

Every morning, our getting ready routine is stretched thin over about 2 hours, since one daughter leaves at 7:20 am, and one leaves at 8 am. I spend time with daughter #1 for a few minutes before she goes, but by the time we are nearing 8, daughter #2 and I spend most of our time in the morning together in the bathroom, getting ready. 

I love these moments, and this week one stopped me in my tracks.

I was putting on my face and was at step #1, which is a ritual involving a few layers of a spackle-like substance that I blend and blend and blend around my eyes. I was “blessed” with very dark eye sockets. I’ve always been super self-conscious of my raccoon eyes. As a matter of fact, on days when I don’t have as much makeup on, I’ve been asked if I’m feeling ok. 

Seriously!

This week, I was having a particularly hard time getting my dark under eye covered up, and whined to my daughter about how much I hate my dark circles. 

Without even looking up from what she was doing, she asked me “Why do you think people even care about your eye circles?”

Whoa.

She even went on to tell me that people don’t like me or dislike me because of my dark eyes.

Double Whoa.

And she is totally right! While people do notice these things and my reasons for being self-conscious are justified, it’s truly not what God tells us is important. 

1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that God looks NOT at our outward appearance, but straight through to the heart He put into each one of us. 

We all have things that we are self-conscious of. We all have things about our physical appearance we’d love to change. But let’s not be too quick to forget that God has made us for so much more than these things.

People don’t love you for your beauty, friend… they love you for your heart!

Since this conversation with my daughter, I’ve been trying to fight the self-depreciation talk that I give myself in the mirror every morning. I’m trying instead to fill my heart with reminders of the God who loves me just as I am. And I want you to do the same thing!

Proverbs 31:30 (ESV) says “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”

Tell me in the comments: Do you allow your own insecurities to hold you back from being who God created you to be? 

I challenge you to really think about that this week. Search out the truth in your Bible, and journal your thoughts about it. Let God speak to your heart and mold your thinking. 

Have a great week!!

Angie