Beauty Is Love Not Looks

Imagine being ravished with cancer, your body emaciated from radiation and chemo, you are bald, rashed, and physically a mess.  This is how Kim Rives found herself.

There are two great quotes I want to share that I found in her book, which I mentioned in my last post, My Walk Thru Heaven.

I want you to return to the scene I first mentioned. This is what Kim said,
"Physically I could see that I was hurting, yet my eyes seemed to be shining like diamonds. They twinkled and sparkled and I literally could see the light of the Lord in them. I knew God was letting me know that beauty comes from love not looks."

There are hundreds of powerful messages in her book but I want to focus on the ones that are relevant to my blog.
Here is the other quote, by Kim, which is full of eternal truth:
"I knew that one of the best gifts to give to God was to love myself. No matter what the situation or circumstance, I needed to love myself unconditionally."

How powerful this concept is. It is actually a gift to our Father in Heaven for us to love ourselves. Think of how badly it hurts him when we do the opposite. When we put ourselves down and withhold loving, accepting feelings toward our self.

 I can compare it to my own children. One of the top qualities I want my children to have is love for themselves. Think of all the heartbreak and poor choices steaming from low self-esteem. 
How do we instill this in our children? I feel modeling this behavior is the most effective way.  I consciously try to let my children hear me speak positivity about myself and I accept compliments graciously. When someone says something positive don't say "no," and try to talk them out of the compliment. Say "Thank you," with a smile. Teach your children to do the same.

I know Father in Heaven wants the best for us ten fold to what we want for our own children.
So I'm choosing, and hope you join me, to give this gift to our Eternal Father-- the gift of loving myself unconditionally.