How to Achieve Healthy Body and Self Confidence - H

If you were asked to describe yourself, what would you say?

Some people would say things like "brown hair, blue eyes." Other people would say "I like to read" or "I enjoy surfing." I'm not talking about that stuff. What I'm wondering is if you would describe yourself as "confident."

confidence (n.)
the feeling of self-assurance rising from one's appreciation of one's own abilities or qualities

Confidence is a BIG topic of discussion in today's world. But something that irritates me is when people say "Be confident in yourself!" but they don't explain how to be confident in yourself. And it makes it even worse when we, as growing women, don't have strong female influences to show us what confidence should look like.

Well, if you agree with me, you're in luck, because today I am bringing you everything and a bag of chips concerning healthy body and self confidence.

Now, if this topic is tough for the secular world, it's even tougher for the Christian sphere of influence, because we as Christian girls and women have so many different opinions coming at us from all different directions. Before anything else, I want to say that everything included in this blog post is entirely my OWN opinion. However, I will do my very best to state the bare bones facts, so that you can draw your own conclusion. Okay? Let's go. 😊

Step One to Confidence: Know Who God Says You Are.

God is King. And you're His child. Do you know what that means? You're royalty. 👑 Pretty cool, right? When I was little, I always wanted to be a princess. (What little girl didn't?😂) Even from a young age, I felt security in myself and my identity simply by knowing that I was God's princess.

But when I got older, things seemed to get more complicated. There were a lot more outside influences telling me who I was, what I should look like, how I should act. Suddenly, being God's princess didn't seem so special anymore. 🙁

In Bible times (and even for a long time after that) women were viewed as the inferior sex. Thankfully, that mindset is changing now. There are still some areas of the world and cultures where there is a lot of gender discrimination, but there are also many awesome women influencers rising up today to lead the way to equality. 👏

However, this new mindset creates a whole bunch of new problems, especially for us Christian young women. We just want to know how we should view ourselves. From the secular realm, we hear "it's okay to have sex outside of marriage! Be proud of your own sexuality! Wear what you want and let them deal with it!" From the Christian realm, we hear "college is for finding a husband! Be silent and submissive! Don't let the world know you have a shape!"

There's a lot of noise going on here, and I'm getting quite irritated with it all, aren't you? In times like this, I like to retreat to the Scriptures. Let's look at what God says.

(1) God created you on purpose and with a purpose

Let me say it again for the people in the back: ON PURPOSE

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well . . . your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:14,16 NIV)

 and WITH A PURPOSE

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

(2) You are a CATCH

 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (Proverbs 31:10 NIV)

(3) You are gorgeous

Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful. (Song of Solomon 1:15 NIV)

[Your beauty] should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3:4 NIV)

 (4) True beauty comes from INSIDE

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV)

And finally (this is the biggest one of all . . .)

(5) True, healthy, lasting confidence COMES FROM GOD !!!!!!

For the Lord will be your confidence (Proverbs 3:26 ESV)

Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. (2 Corinthians 3:4-5 NIV)

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6 NIV)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

And that's it! It's simple, but not always easy. Still, I pray that each of you will have the courage to place your trust in God, and to rely fully on Him for everything you need--not just food and shelter and love, but confidence too! Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first HIS kingdom and HIS righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS will be given to you as well." (emphasis added) And just in case you're still worrying about what's going to happen, the next verse says, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." 💛

Thanks for reading this, guys! I enjoyed writing it. I was praying so hard as I wrote it; and I continue to pray that it will impact you and help you grow in your relationship with God. 😊

Much love and God bless,
Hannah xoxo 💝