"Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called."
(1 Timothy 6:12)
Do you find it difficult to believe in your beauty?
We have looked at several common beauty misconceptions. There are many more we could cover. The truth is that every woman has her own battle. We face many of the same misconceptions and struggles. Yet, for each woman, the battle to believe in her true beauty is her own. We could talk for days about the particular misconceptions we struggle with, but ultimately we must identity our own battle and begin fighting. "Battle" may seem like a serious term to use here, but indeed for many women it is a great battle to believe in her beauty. For many, the struggle is a life long war.
The battle usually takes place in the mind. It is a constant tug-of-war between good and evil, a clash of truth and lies. We seem to be the red flag in the middle. The Holy Spirit pulls us to to believe in our unique and unrepeatable mystery and beauty. He reminds us that the key to true and lasting joy is the perfection of the soul. Satan pulls back. Satan loves to whisper in the ear of God's daughters that they are not beautiful. He wants us to believe that the key to happiness is the perfection of the body. He loves to draw our attention to all of the "flaws" in God's creation.
This is nothing new for the evil one. Didn't he do the same to Eve in the garden of Eden? He pointed out the "flaw" that God would create a tree that she couldn't eat from. He made Eve believe that she would be happy if she could just eat from that one tree. Of course, we know that God created the tree to lead Adam & Eve to use their gift of free will to choose obedience. Through their obedience they lived in union, in love, with God. Satan didn't want that, he wanted that they should see themselves as lords of God's creation, that they would use the gift of free will to disobey, and consequently fall out of union with God.
When we hear a whisper that criticizes the beauty of God's creative work in us, we should be on guard, we need to be ready to choose to use our gift of free will to see beyond the lies of Satan. Ultimately, whether or not we believe in our beauty is not Satan's concern. He has a greater goal in mind, that we would fall out of union, out of love, with God. The "apple" he offers is to reject the beauty of God's creative work in us, to become lords of our bodies, to lose sight of our beauty and criticize our Creator. Will we eat the apple?
The thing about a tug-of-war is that the closer the red flag gets to one side, the chances of winning increase, and (whether in reality or just in our minds) the fight becomes a little easier. When we offer our minds, hearts, and souls, to the Holy Spirit, we not only have a better chance to win but it is impossible not to win. The fight doesn't just get a little easier, it gets a lot easier. God is waiting to pull us up into His arms, and there, embraced by the Holy Spirit, we will find the weapons to win the battle; truth, virtue, sacraments, grace, and prayer. However, if we allow ourselves to be pulled to the other side, the disbelief in our beauty becomes a chain that binds us. It holds us back from becoming the truly beautiful women God created us to be. We become slaves to the lies.
In Christ is true freedom. We must bind ourselves up in His truth and love for us. God is the author of beauty. We are His masterpieces. He desires that we would believe in our beauty, and therefore believe in His creation. The world doesn't make it easy, but we must "fight the good fight." We must take up our weapons, move, and begin winning the battle.
When we begin fighting, the battle may get harder for awhile. This is often the case in any battle. The army doesn't care to fight hard if the enemy is idle and poses no threat. It is when the enemy begins to move that the army charges. So too, in the spiritual life, when we begin moving forward we will meet resistance. The evil one wants nothing more then for us to give up and remain idle. Life may even seem easier for us stagnate, but if we aren't moving forward then we are moving backward. The enemy is okay with that. The real proof of forward progress is that we are faced with adversity. What he doesn't want is for us to be victorious by taking up our spiritual weapons, against which he has no chance. We must be at peace when we face difficultly, trust in the Lord, and continue to move forge ahead.
In the remaining days of this spiritual journey we will focus on forward progress and gain new weapons for the spiritual battle. We will continue to discuss the truth about beauty, study holy examples who will inspire us, and cultivate practices of virtue in our daily lives. We are going to move past the tug-of-war and into a life of grace.
Today's Challenge:
Take a few moments for self reflection. Be honest with yourself and consider: What do you struggle to believe about your beauty? Why? Identify your fight. What misconception do you have about beauty that binds you?
Surrender it to the Lord. Then, commit to surrendering it back to God each time you feel the struggle coming back. Ask Him to give you the strength and grace you need to believe in your true beauty.
Today's Prayer:
Heavenly Father, you are the Divine author of beauty. You created the world and you created me. You know every secret of my heart, you know my deepest struggles. You know the misconceptions and lies about beauty that hold me down and keep me from embracing the beauty that you gave me. I don't want to lost in this battle anymore, I do not want to be bound by the chains of disbelief. I want to be free; free to live confidently and virtuously the life you have planned for me. I want to be a truly beautiful woman who leads others to You with my beauty. So I beg you Lord, give me the grace that I need to believe in my beauty today. Give me the grace that I need to win the battle everyday. "I praise you Lord, for I am wonderfully made" (Psalm 139: 14). Amen.
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