Day 2: Beauty is the Opposite of Perfection

  What a powerful statement! The media gives us this false idea that we have to be perfect to be considered beautiful. Ladies (and gentlemen!) we are not meant to be carbon copies of those magazine models! We are not meant to be cookie cutter versions of someone else! A painting of perfectly straight black and white lines is nowhere near as fun and interesting as an abstract masterpiece. 

   While on the subject of art, we are familiar with the fact that people don't like criticism. If someone has worked super hard to create something fascinating and incredible, they would probably be a little frustrated if you told them it should look different. Or even worse, you told them it was ugly, or that it would be better had they never created the work of art in the first place. Isn't that what we do to God? We look in the mirror and wish we could change this or that, telling ourselves we aren't as attractive as others, or for some, wishing they could just cease to exist. Imagine how that hurts our Father! For the longest time I thought that I could be so much prettier if I had green or blue eyes instead of brown. But then one day I thought, What do I know? God probably has much better taste in the design of our bodies than we do. We may hate certain parts of ourselves, wishing we could be taller or shorter, thinner or curvier, blue eyes instead of brown. Perhaps He thought I'd look best with brown eyes, dark hair, and taller than most people. Who am I to question His work? The same One who created the stars in the sky created me and you. He knows what beauty is, and it's not the same as our distorted idea of what we think it should be. So love all of your flaws! Thank Heavenly Father for creating you, for sending His Only Begotten to atone for your sins so you can enjoy a life full of love, learning, beauty, and growth! 

Don't criticize yourself, and don't criticize others, for when you do, you criticize the Creator who knows so much more about the beauty of our souls and bodies than we can comprehend. Learn to find beauty, because it is all around us!