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Are you content with who you are? It took years for me to accept and be contented with the way God created me. I had some wrong idea of what God wanted every woman to be and since I didn’t seem to fit that mold, I kept trying to change but I just couldn’t. After years of discontent with the way God created me, I finally understood that God had a good purpose for me and I have learned to appreciate and enjoy how God created me.
However, at the same time, I want to have a holy discontentment with where I am in my growth and maturity. Contentment and lack of contentment at the same time. Or you could say, accepting who I am but not settling for where I am.
Let’s look at some specific areas where we often have difficulty accepting who we are, but where we must also never settle for less than we can be.
Your Body
The Bible says that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made. So, you should accept and be contented with how God’s hands made you because God doesn’t make mistakes.
Do you look in the mirror and complain about your body, your face, your hair, your size? I want to encourage you to be contented with the body God has given you. I think of my dear friend, Fran, who was just barely five feet tall. All her life she was the shortest one. But you know, God used her size to enlarge her ministry. You see, because she was short and cute, her appearance was never threatening or intimidating to anyone. It made it easy for her to make friends—and she made friends with everybody. God used her personality and short stature to connect her with so many people, many who came to saving faith through Fran. It is not a mistake that she was a short person.
Accept the body and face and size and shape that God has given you. Accept, but don’t settle. Keep that body running on all cylinders. Do everything you can to keep it healthy. Exercise as you know you should; get rid of some of those harmful eating habits. Be contented with your body, while at the same time never settling for anything less than the best it can be.