You are beautiful through Christ

It was a busy day in the hospital. A pounding headache made it difficult to allow my mind to rest as I swiftly went to patient to patient  But, in Father's sweetest mercy, I had a moment to sit down for a few minutes in the break room. By His divine design, a program started on television. The newscast asked several different men and women this one, simple question: 

"If you could change one thing about your body, what would you change?"

(Click HERE if you would like to watch the video - It's really good!) 

The adults quickly responded with things they did not like about their bodies, expressing their dissatisfaction and personal anguish.

Then, the newscast asked the same question to sweet little boys and girls. The difference was humbling.

These innocent children thought and thought, faces scrunched, chins scratched. After pondering a while - they excitedly wished for mermaid tails, glow-in-the-dark eyes, and flying powers. One girl even proclaimed with a smile: "I like my body, actually!" How stark a comparison! No wonder the Savior asks us to "become as little children" (Mosiah 3:18). 

We have been blessed with beautiful bodies - with which we can progress to the eternities. We ought not let satan override our perception with ingratitude. Let us "rejoice and lift up our heads forever, because of the blessings which the Lord God" has given us - "for in our bodies we shall see god" (2 Nephi 9:3-4).

I've struggled, and still struggle, with loving my body - as many men and women do. I have been overcome with satan's self-defeating cloud of darkness - obscuring my vision of who I am and how divine a role my body plays in Father's plan. 

But I thank God for allowing His light to break through. He helps me see clearly if I look to Him. 

Pornography not only plagues the minds of men with lust and addiction, but it corrupts the vision of women, causing them to compare themselves and fear they are not beautiful nor adequate. 

We must let Jesus cleanse our vision and change our perspective. It's not enough to free our minds from such satanic and evil thoughts, but we must fill them with good and truth from Father, with His light and His love. 

One beautiful summer afternoon, I went to the temple. Upon entering the house of the Lord, my mind was caught up in thought. I had been battling the adversary in the way I view my body. I remember thinking that I had not received a compliment of being beautiful for quite some time. It was not a compliment of looks that I desired, but a compliment of who I am through Christ's atonement. To me, compliments of "you ARE beautiful" resonate much more deeply than that of "you LOOK beautiful."

I have found that Satan has tried to cause me to dwell on the imperfections of my body. The Spirit has helped me see that the adversary has lulled me into the habit of finding physical fault every time I look in the mirror. He has taught me that the adversary desires that I  live contrary to Elder Nelson's counsel, when he said, "Each time you look in the mirror, see your body as your temple." (Decisions for Eternity)

But as I prayed to see myself through spiritually renewed eyes, Father has taught me that I am beautiful when the Spirit is with me. I am beautiful because the Savior makes me beautiful. When He is with me, I radiate, I beam. I am most beautiful when I think of others and not myself, when I think and act as Christ does. It is through His name, the great I Am, that I Am beautiful. Through Him, I am beautiful.

Furthermore, it is not our looks that make us beautiful, but who we are. If we are becoming Christlike, we shine. If we are choosing to let His grace attend us and transform us in all that we do, we ARE beautiful. Despite what the world says, beauty runs far deeper than looks. It is who we are. I am beautiful by and through the great Jehovah, the great I Am.

I dressed myself in the temple garment and went to the chapel to wait for the next endowment session. By divine design, a beautiful woman and mother, with the most loving smile watched me as I walked past. After her friends arrived, they went to the row behind me to sit. As she passed me, she held my hand and said, "YOU are the most beautiful girl!" 

I felt Jesus encircle me about. I knew that it was He who had inspired her to not only notice me, but to approach me with those very words. It wasn't a compliment of my looks, but of me, of who I am through the name and grace of our Savior. I wept in gratitude and love for my Heavenly Father and Lord.

"Inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am--not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual." (D&C 67:10)

Oh how perfectly do these words chasten my soul! I thank Heavenly Father for sending me to this verse and for sending that sweet sister to be an answer to my unuttered prayer.

Satan seeks to cloud our vision with jealousies and fears. But through the atoning grace of our beloved Savior, we can strip ourselves from these lies and be filled with gratitude & love. Humbly, we can recognize our own nothingness and our full dependence on Him. He made our bodies and He makes me beautiful. As we do so, the veil will be rent and we will see ourselves for who we truly are, children of the Most High God.