Comments on: Appearance and Identity http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/ Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:35:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Birgit http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2465 Fri, 22 May 2009 07:02:43 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2465 Hi Tawny, it’s so true what you say, it really does seem that most women are affected by this, and so often feel bad about ourselves for not fitting with the ‘ideal.’ But I love what you say here about there being freedom with Jesus. Although we still may feel the pressure to look a certain way, the Holy Spirit ministers to us at a deeper level that we have infinite value and beauty in His eyes, and can feel joy in knowing this. God bless, friend :)

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Rain, your comment made such an impression. Particularly the part about some of the precious women you trained with feeling unable to look at themselves in the mirror as they worked out. It just struck me how sad it is that we can feel such disappointment or consciousness about the way we look, and how deeply these feelings can go. And it’s so true what you say, that we can learn the truth in God that “beauty is fleeting” Prov.31:30 and “what matters is not your outer appearance” 1 Pet.3:3, but that we may not grasp hold of the freedom in these words from the Bible, that we may still “succumb to the pressure” as you say. For those of us who do struggle with this pressure, may God work deeply in our hearts with the peace and freedom His Spirit brings.
I love hearing your thoughts and experiences Rain, love and blessings to you.

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Hi Cyndi, thanks so much for letting me know about the trouble you had clicking on the recent post, and I so appreciate you leaving a reply here instead, and your lovely encouragement :) So often in this area it can feel like a tug of war I find, between our cultural ‘ideal’ and what God says, but without fail, when I rest in God’s words and in His perspective there is such peace. As His creation, we are each works of art, and infinitely special!
Thanks for your thoughts here and lots of blessings to you.

]]> By: Cyndi http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2461 Wed, 20 May 2009 20:08:59 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2461 For some reason, I can’t click on “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” to make a comment? But anyway, I wanted to say that I just loved it… So comforting! What an encouraging reminder that we don’t have to sweat it; we can just relax in the Lord and the way we are made by His loving hands! Thanks for writing this!
~Cyndi
God Nuggets Blog

]]> By: Rain http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2460 Wed, 20 May 2009 16:54:42 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2460 Hi Birgit, it is true that our identity is often linked to our appearance. When I was a personal trainer, it was all about image. People chose you because of the way you look. It is all very superficial but still you succumb to the pressure. In that way I’m thankful I’m not in the industry anymore but that ‘ideal’ remains.

What made me sad though during that time was that I had ladies who could not look at themselves in the mirror. We trained in front of a mirror and some of them would just look anywhere but the mirror. It always made me so sad and I always wanted to tell them that they are beautiful. Because isn’t it funny how we hold ourselves up to such a high standard, but we can quite easily see the beauty in others without really even noticing the flaws?

Which is something that took me a long time to learn: An attractive person may make a good first impression but once you spend any time at all with someone, it is a person of great character, or maturity, or kindness or even intelligence who really captures our attention and we barely notice the way they look.

So good character is far harder to build, we should probably spend more time on that… And all the time we spend on perfecting our outward appearance probably is just ‘a chasing after the wind’ as you say. But even if we learn this truth, our actions will quite possibly prove that we don’t really believe it in our hearts. So we continue in our pursuit of outward beauty. Only God can really set us free.

]]> By: tawny http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2458 Wed, 20 May 2009 13:45:34 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2458 Birgit, thank you for this. I do not know a woman that does not struggle with this one degree or another. Satan has used this issue more than any other to torment me. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free and He will make us inwardly and outwardly beautiful, in His time. Thank you, LORD!

]]> By: Birgit http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2454 Tue, 19 May 2009 22:06:53 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2454 Hi Mary, it’s really lovely to hear from you. It’s such a hard thing isn’t it, I’ve found it so hard at times to remind myself of the freedom there is with God in this area, and not feel ‘underwhelmed’ as you say, with one thing or another I see in the mirror :) It’s something I’m sure lots of us women can relate to :) Lots of blessings to you.
It’s the Message version in the header

]]> By: marycooke http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2452 Tue, 19 May 2009 21:33:30 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2452 PS. I meant to ask, what version is the Scripture in your header? Very compelling! Cheers, Mary

]]> By: marycooke http://birgitwhelan.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2451 Tue, 19 May 2009 21:32:31 +0000 http://birgitwhelan.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/appearance-and-identity/#comment-2451 Thanks for a very thoughtful, provoking post. While I know the truth of spiritual reality vs. physical reality, I’m still underwhelmed when I look at my 54 year old self. My facebook picture is from 1972 for that very reason. This is obviously something I need to look at more honestly, so thanks again!
Blessings,
Mary

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