Luksaw (“Daughter”)

“Daughter”. That is what He calls me.

Self image issues are something I have wrestled with a lot over the past year. I used to find all of my worth in what I looked like. Working out and cutting back foods to an unhealthy point. Doing whatever it would take to look “thin and beautiful”. Obsessing over fitting into the stereotypical mold of what society says “beauty” is. Comparing myself and my body to others on social media who I considered to be physically flawless. Criticizing my body and picking out the “flaws” every time I looked into a mirror.

I knew that God made me and called me beautiful, and I would tell myself that. However, I was not truly believing it, nor was I walking that out in my life and in my thoughts. I was allowing satan to control my thoughts and feed me lies daily. I distinctly remember one morning reading through Psalms 139. In verse 14 it says: “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well”. Immediate conviction from the Holy Spirit consumed me, and I began to hear Him rebuke the thoughts of this past year.

Laura….. do you praise the Lord for how He made you? Or do you criticize yourself and your body every time you look in the mirror or take a picture? You only allow yourself to see the “flaws”, the “flab”, the “errors”, your “weaknesses”. Laura, who gets to say what “beautiful” is? Because it sure isn’t society. Laura, the Lord made you by hand and said that you are beautiful. He said that you are HIS loved daughter. He calls you beautiful, worthy, strong, gorgeous, brave, and HIS.

I told myself that day that it was time for a mindset and perception change. What was I going to believe about myself? Since then it has been a daily battle. I am not saying that everything changed overnight, and I never have to fight those lies or thoughts. It is still a war that I fight every morning when I wake up, but now I am not fighting it on my own. Instead I turn to the word and fight the lies of the enemy with the truths from my Father.

The King and Creator took the time to make me. He has called me His daughter. I am worthy. I am loved. I am valuable and priceless. There is no one like me. He has a specific plan already laid out for me. My heavenly Father looks at me and smiles. I am gorgeous. I am brave in Him. Above all…… I am HIS.

I, Laura Chontos, am a daughter of The King.

I want to encourage anyone who also struggles with self image and appearance. YOU are so incredibly valuable, so beautiful, and so worthy. You have a Father who has called you HIS. Fight the lies that satan throws with the truths from the Lord. Walk in the freedom that you are a child of the King, because He loves you unconditionally with His steadfast love.