Happy Women’s Month ladies!!! Women are just incredible, aren’t they? Our bodies, our emotions, our minds, our ways, our beauty, our being. God made us beautifully.

But as women, we frequently struggle with our self-image. We may feel not skinny enough, fit enough, voluptuous enough, tall enough, short enough, smart enough, quiet enough, gentle enough, talkative enough, light-skinned enough, dark enough, pretty enough, the list goes on. We are constantly bombarded with pressures from ourselves, our loved ones, and our society about how we should look, think, and act. We project our own insecurities on other women especially the women that are close to us, our daughters, our friends, and our employees. We wonder if we are the only ones who feel the “not enough syndrome.” Maybe everyone else got the memo and we are the only ones who missed out.  

We ask ourselves if we are worthy of love. Am I lovable? Why do my relationships seem so difficult? Why do I keep gaining weight? Why do I keep getting sick? Why didn’t I get the promotion? Why don’t I get as many accolades for all the things that I say and do? Why am I still single? Why can’t I have children? Why do I keep having miscarriages while it is so easy for other people to have children? What’s wrong with my body? Why doesn’t my husband touch me anymore? Why? Why? Why?

We may not get all the answers, but one thing is certain, we have many truths and promises that can sustain us.

Ladies, your worth comes directly from the fact that you were created for God. God created you for his glory (Isaiah 43:7). He looked through all the earth and thought to create someone with all the characteristics that you have. Small, short, tall, slender, big-boned, dark, light, quiet, talkative, analytical, sensitive, you name it. “You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7 NIV).

We can so often focus on the things that we lack rather than the things that we have. What are the things that make you you? If you are short, curvatious, quiet, dark-skinned, analytical, etc., what does that make possible for you? There is a reason you have those qualities. The world needs you to have them because there are things that you bring to your partner, family, friends, workplace that only you can bring. We need you to show up as yourself.  

No matter what you have done or what other people have done to you, you are worthy of love. God himself says, you are precious and honored in his sight, and he loves you (Isaiah 43:4). If someone in your life can’t see it, that’s on them. You don’t have to believe them. God has proclaimed how much he loves you over and over again. Just ask Jesus! There is nothing that you can do that will make God love you any less.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

In case you are wondering, you are just where you need to be right now. Accept your journey and where you are in it. Don’t be hard on yourself just because you haven’t gotten all the things you want instead focus on how far you have come. You are gathering all the tools and skills along the way to become all of you that you need to be. There are no short cuts, and if you take the short cuts, they don’t work in the long run. Allow yourself to go through the process of healing, molding, and training. Persevere as you run your own life race, don’t look to the left or to the right, focus on your path (Proverbs 4:25-27). Look around to learn and to be inspired. Look around to extend a hand to someone else but focus on your path.

Is there something you need to do to get where you want? Do you need to go see your doctor? Do you need to see a counselor/therapist? Do you need to have a talk with your spouse, friend, mom, dad? What is within your power to do? Go for it!

And for all the things that are outside of your control, all the unanswered desires, remember God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20 NIV). Pray continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17). For the Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV).