As we move into the season of summer and shorts and swimming, I’ve heard a lot of jokes (all in good fun) about how, ‘I wasted my time and now it’s too late to get my summer body.’

The people making these jokes aren’t saying it in a malicious way—they are gently messing with themselves—but there’s some truth or some realness to what they are saying.

And no, I do not mean that they are right about it being too late for a summer body, but rather that while these are jokes, these jokes come from real insecurities and real thoughts.

But there is so much more to you than your appearance. And that, actually, is biblical.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. 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

Samuel, while he is a prophet and knows the Lord well, still needs to learn: don’t judge based on the outside.

When confronted by the Pharisees in the temple, Jesus says this:
“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24 NIV)

Yes, there is a correct way to judge—and that’s based on what the heart looks like.

However, it’s not biblical to look at yourself or others and judge based on what is looking back at you. You were not designed by the Lord to hate the creation he made—one of my friends described it this way in the end of a poem:

And yet, in all this, I realize I sound
ungrateful—paint yelling at the artist.
Forgive me, Lord; one day, I’ll come around.
I’ll trust in Your plan, even through the hardest.

Paint yelling at the artist—this description shook me.

It’s one thing to look at God and question His design but it’s another thing to gaslight Him (which obviously doesn’t work) into believing, “You failed when it came to me.”

Neither of these are actions that glorify the Lord.

But none of this is to say, “Because you’re insecure, you’re failing God.”

However, it is encouragement in two forms. The first, being this:

You are made in the image of the King, do not turn to others and convince yourself that you are ‘lesser than’ because of your appearance.

And the second being this:

I encourage you to look at yourself in a way that praises God—not because you’re just sooooo good-looking, but because God is a masterful artist!

As we jump into summer (or maybe slowly drag into summer, depending on where you are living), I encourage you to stop looking at yourself (and others) with a humanly lens, but to rather look and encourage others and yourself in a way that isn’t based on their appearance.

Thanks for reading, I hope this was encouraging! Have a great day.
~Willow