Daily Devotional

LOVING YOURSELF JUST THE WAY YOU ARE

March 23

hild of God, so what if you are overweight; what if you don't like the way your face or body looks; so what if you don't like the sound of your own voice; so what if you sometimes think that you are stupid; (you have the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ and you can tap into that great wisdom and knowledge all day long), and what if you think your brother/sister is loved and accepted by your parents better than you? Good heavens child, the alternative to accepting and loving yourself just the way you are is for you to continue to be sad, self-defeating, self-demeaning and negative about your position in life. This negativism and self-anger sets yourself up for you to place a barrier between you and your Heavenly Father which prevents the Holy Spirit from breaking through to you and really changing the circumstances of your thinking and self-defeating behavior. In other words, if you do not love and accept yourself just the way you are, you become guilty of sentencing yourself never to change! This is an awful prison in which you have consigned yourself to live! Let me ask you a question: haven't you prayed to change? Haven't you begged God to change the way you look and think? Have your prayers been answered. No, they have not been answered. Don't you realize that your Father could have changed you in the womb? He could have given you a perfect, beautiful body while He was still forming you in your mother's body. He could have given you a more powerful intellect or personality inside your mother. Remember this, many beautiful and intelligent people with the best personalities live out their entire lives and never come to know your Father in Heaven. You have been given the best compliment about yourself that anyone on earth could receive--- your Father in Heaven has given to you the free and loving gift of His Son to be your Savior. You have been given the Holy Spirit to guide you and bless you far beyond your looks and intellect! Your Father can give you the gift of the countenance (appearance) of Jesus. You will look good to all around you and be attractive to others for other reasons than your face, body or personality. Child of the King, let's turn things around. Thank Him and praise Him for making you the way you are! Tell Him that you are going to serve Him every day of your life, even if you don’t change one bit. This love and self-acceptance will set in motion the power of the Holy Spirit to make you the best that you can possibly be in all ways. Do you believe this? Good, get on with your life!

PRAYERS: Father, I have despised and rejected myself on several levels. I have sinned against myself! I do not wish to suffer the negative consequences of this behavior one more day! Help me, and I will stop my complaining about myself, and I will turn to loving and worshipping you with all my heart, in the name of the Lord Jesus, amen!