When Life Brings You Blemishes

     

      Hello everyone! I am overwhelmed with excitement to share with ya´ll my very first blog! I am currently a college student working to pursue a career in Christian counseling (it´s not decided for sure yet, but I want my career to focus on sharing the love of Christ!). One spiritual gift that I have possessed since I was a small child is my gift of writing.

Spiritual Gift: Abilities that God gives me so I can glorify him

            ¨To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.¨ (1 Corinthians 12:7) 

    I feel like the Lord is calling me to use my gift of writing to glorify him, and I plan to do that through writing novels, devotionals, and anything that people can read and take God´s love from. My hope is that my blogs or anything that I post online for others will do the same.:)

    For my first blog, I want to talk about a common issue that humans struggle tremendously with. ¨Insecurity¨. There are many specific types of insecurity I can go into, but for this blog I´ll just go into a more basic category of this term.

    A main insecurity that we face (mainly women but men too!) is the way our outer appearance looks. Being secure in the way I look has always been an obstacle for me. We all have that one flaw on our bodies that we wish we could change. Ever since I was a young teenager, my biggest flaw has been my acne. What´s funny about my struggle with acne however, is that out of all the acne cases in the world, mine would be considered as a very light case. There are many people in the world who battle full faces of painful acne that would kill to have my clear face with just a couple of red spots here and there. If I´m aware that I don´t have the worst acne in the world, then why am I so bothered by it? 2 Timothy 3:2-5 pretty much sums up the mentality of a human being. While we are able to avoid that mindset by seeking Christ, humans are naturally selfish creatures. Our main focus is US. That´s why it´s a challenge for me to grasp that I´m not the only one with acne. The acne is on MY face, and I barely notice the flaws of other people because I´m too focused on myself. 

    One of the main ways that people cope with their flaws is by attempting to cover them up. Whenever I leave home, it´s tempting for me to cake on a bunch of makeup over my blemishes so that they aren´t as noticeable. A lot of times I´ll still be frustrated because I can still tell that they´re there, but at least they were a little more hidden. Unfortunately, the truth about makeup is that it only clogs your pores more and makes breakouts worse. 

    A perfect analogy for this is that many people run away from God, covering themselves with  worldly makeup in hopes of feeling satisfied with themselves. Just like makeup however, the pleasures in the world are only temporary. They satisfy you for some time, but then they only leave behind more blemishes. The only way you can get rid of your blemishes is by finding satisfaction in the Lord.

            ¨When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of their troubles.¨ (Psalm 34:17)

     Unfortunately, there is no way to magically get rid of my acne. All I can do is continue treating it the best I can, and learn to find content in how I appear despite the spots. It is just a small obstacle out of the many trials in my life that I will just have to face. Whenever I find myself staring in a mirror, angry at how ugly I look with acne, I try to stop and ask myself: ¨Is this really worth ruining my day? Am I seriously going to allow a couple of spots damage my self worth?¨ 

    No matter what blemishes life brings you, whether it be acne or a difficult time, turn to the Lord and ask him to show you that with him, you can overcome your struggles. To end this blog, just wanna say that you are beautiful despite your blemishes and flaws! You are beautiful for having Christ at your core. Hope ya´ll have a Merry Christmas, and I´m looking forward to writing my next blog!

- With love,

Emma