Friday 13 December 2013

"So Proud of My Naked Self"

I know, I know. That title is kinda ridiculous. But trust me, it fits this post perfectly.

So the other day my kids were eating their breakfast in their pj's. My little man was just covered in milk and cereal by the time he was done so instead of just wiping his face and hands I pulled of his pj's as I wiped him off.  Of course, wanting to be like her little brother, Little A asked if she could have a naked time too and yanked off her pj's before I could say otherwise.  

The two kids went running circles around our main floor of our house E man in his diaper and Little A completely buck.  They were laughing and squealing and having so much fun chasing each other and surprising each other as they jumped out from around a corner.  

After a few minutes of this loud and hilarious playtime, Little A slumped her shoulders and sauntered to the couch sighing, "I am just too tired and I need to have a rest." She climbed up on the sofa and laid down for only a moment before exclaiming, " I am so proud."

I chuckled to myself and asked, "Why are you so proud?"

She sighs again and says, " I am just so proud of myself mommy.  I just am so proud of my naked self."

I choked down my laughter as I watched her glance down at her little "naked self" with a smile on her face. 

Then she looked up at me and asked, " Mommy, are you proud of your naked self?"

A long pause.

"Ahh...um...yeah, yeah honey I guess so," was all I could get out. And then she ran up to go and get dressed and ready for the day and I went to go and change the little mans diaper. 

But those words kind of haunted me all day. 

Well, those words and the fact that I had such a hard time telling her that yes I am proud. 

But the whole honest truth is, I am not proud of my naked self.  I don't know if I have been for a very long time. I don't know if I ever was, or if I was, I don't know when I lost it. 

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
Genesis 2:25

Most people would tell you that they have struggled with a negative self image at some time in there lives. Some people would tell you that they have always struggled with a negative self image.  But, most people would also then blame the media; magazines, music,  tv, and advertising (and lets not forget pornography, both still and film), for their negative view of themselves (and others). 

I totally agree, what we see is totally messed up. But I think that by blaming our problems  on those things we are just seeing the symptom and not the cause of that symptom. 

We live in a messed up world. 

The day that Eve was tempted into her sin and shared that sin with Adam, the whole world changed. It is not that we made a choice and allowed sin into the world, sin was already there hiding out of the presence of the Lord and waiting for its chance to entice and corrupt. The choice that Adam and Eve made did not allow sin into the world, it created a divide between us and the Father, they gave into sin and their evil desires and they divided themselves from God allowing sin to be more evident and easier to fall into. 

When in the presence of the Lord, there cannot be sin. 

Increase the divide between you and God and sin and darkness have freedom to roam. 

Our world encourages a great divide between faith and life.  Most regular church attenders go to church on Sunday and spend the rest of their lives doing exactly what the rest of the world does.  

We are not walking with the Father. Our world, our society,  does not walk with the Father. Sin, Death and Darkness are allowed to roam free, no, not just to roam free, but to run rampant.  So no, it is not the fault of the media or all of the horrible things that we see, the fault lies with our distance from the Father.  Yes, those things suck to see, and yes they do horrible injustice to our image of ourselves.  

But. 

When we dwell near the Father, we hear his voice. And his voice speaks truth, it speaks truth that flows into us like honey to our souls and water to our dry and cracked neglected spirits.  His words build us up.  

Please sit back and allow His words to nourish your soul and to give you pride, not in yourself but in your naked beauty, the beauty that is unhindered, unashamed, and designed purely by a Father that adores you enough to make you how you are. 
(Not all of these are whole verses and emphasis has been added) 

Did you know that you were created.  

For we are his masterpiece,
Ephesians 2:10

Did you know that you were created intricately and exactly how you were intended to be.  

My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

Psalms 139:15-16

That He knows you intimately, that even down to the number of hairs on your head, He knows you. 

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 
Luke 12:7

Did you know that God made you in His image, that you were created to be like him.  That he has both a masculine, powerful side and a feminine, gentle and kind side. That neither is more like him, but that both together make a more whole view of who God really is. 


So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27


We are created in the image of God. A God that creates beautiful things and is beautiful.

One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I will look for: that I may live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to look upon the beauty of the Lord, and to worship in His holy house.
Psalm 27:4

When God created man, he sat back and saw that it was very good. Not just good, Very good. 

God saw all that He had made and it was very good.
Genesis 1:31

Be reminded, that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. 

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39


God loves the work of his hands (you), he does not see a fault in what he has created, what you are looking at in the mirror and judging as a flaw or fault, the maker sees as perfection, the marks of the one that created you, different than any other creation.

How foolish can you be?
    He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!
Should the created thing say of the one who made it,
    “He didn’t make me”?
Does a jar ever say,
    “The potter who made me is stupid”?

Isaiah 29:16


Feeling proud of our naked selves, or our selves in general, does not come from us working out or trying to love ourselves more, or anything we can really do on our own. 

The only way to really feel pride in who we are is to feel pride in Who made you, why they made you, and that the one Who made you for a reason specific to you, loves you unconditionally. 

Blessings,  
Go run around naked for a little while, its kinda freeing.  (just close the curtains and lock the door)  ;)
This photo was taken recently, it was a candid taken of me as a bridesmaid in my friends wedding.  I was really nervous about being in the wedding party because I have been feeling large and round as my belly grows, but I am also a good number larger than any of the rest of the wedding party.   This photo was snapped when I was unaware and it is my favourite picture of myself in a very long time.  Despite how I felt about how I looked that day,  (large, awkward, and in a lot of discomfort from wearing a dress that was too small) I can look at this picture and actually see beauty in myself.
Does help that the photographers were amazing!


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