Doing a Bible Study with some ladies at church and was alerted to an astonishing statistic! Did you know that by the time your daughter celebrates her 12th birthday, she will have seen an estimated 77,546 commercials!
And we wonder why our daughters have issues?
For Pete's sake I have issues! I can't look at those and not be disappointed in my looks. How in the world do I expect my daughters to process what they see as valued by the world? I imagine it doesn't matter who you are because you will see you are too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, too white, too dark, you better tone up, lose weight, and show it off.
We must begin talking about what true beauty is about. Are we teaching our daughters I Peter 3:3-4?
I know I am not doing enough for my daughters. Especially since they are seeing and hearing about 400 messages a day shouting about outward appearance. We focus on the outward and God is looking at the heart!
We teach our daughters how to where clothes, do their hair and apply their make-up but are we teaching them how to develop their heart?
I recently was on a panel with a friend at church to talk to teens about what makes a real woman. I began to dig into Proverbs 31 during my preparation to share. I have looked at that scripture many times but this time God challenged me to not just grasp the passage but really understand it. I always looked at what the Proverbs 31 woman could do (I could not come close to it! Wrong focus!) it was really about who she is that struck me this time.
God sees women by their character, dependence upon Him. Are we teaching our daughters what it means to develop character? Here are a few that struck me in a new way!
- Noble: possessing high morals
- Trustworthy: dependable
- Wisdom: deep understand of people and circumstances, often means control one's emotional responses
- Fears the Lord
- Strength: endurance
- Dependence: dependence upon God (not self reliant), or on parents, or spouse
- Integrity: honesty without compromise or corruption
- Resourcefulness: using what you have to take care of others
But to be honest I often am just like the world and focus attention on their outward beauty that will go away vs training the inward beauty that will grow more beautiful over time.
My original perspective is I want to be like the Proverbs 31 woman but honestly I can't do all that! But with my new found perspective from the Lord...I can be like the Proverbs 31 woman! It won't come relying on my own ability or looking through the worlds mirror. This can only be achieved by looking into HIS book and seeking HIS reflection!
What mirror are you looking through?
This was awesome! Love and miss you tons!!!
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I've been thinking about this a lot, too! Have you read, "5 conversations you must have with your daughter"? Or something like that - ha! The chapter on self-image was convicting to ME and helpful as I work with my girls - all four of them. :-)
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