I don’t know about you but when I look in the mirror I have a tendency to see each and every imperfection that’s looking back at me. I see each line that wasn’t there 10 years ago. Every blemish that reveals I’m not 30 any more. So many things that are so far from perfection that it makes this girl beyond thankful for clothes and make-up. Can I get an “Amen” right there?!

You give me my make-up bag and an outfit that hides those many flaws and you will see a woman that appears confident and secure in who she is but is that really a true reflection of the woman you see when you look into those “cover girl” dolled up eyes?

The more women I have the honor of mentoring and ministering to, the more I see that this is a struggle that many of us battle each and every day. And not just issues with our body image but also with that woman we know inside and out that looks back in the mirror at us every morning and finds herself listening to the enemies’ lies that she’s not enough more than the truths from her Savior that truly define her.

The women that I have come to find the most beautiful, are actually the women that have chosen to take it all off and let me see them for who they really are and all they have walked through. It’s the women that have stripped themselves of pride and stopped trying to convince the world they have it all together when the reality is their family is broken and they’re falling apart at the seams and realize, in their own strength, they will never be enough but walk in the truth that their Savior is ALWAYS enough. They’ve taken off their mask that led to the misconception that they are flawless and don’t seem to struggle and choose to walk in the confidence that they have a purpose to fulfill that is as powerful as Mary, Ruth, Sarah, Esther or Naomi in His Story. They admit their weaknesses, struggles and battles they may be walking through–they get real with whatever “it” is in their life that makes them feel “less than”, battle weary and honestly, at times, like a complete failure and they step into the power that only comes from being filled with The Holy Spirit. The same power that rolled the stone away. The same power that conquered death once and for all!

Stop looking side to side, comparing yourself with other women that appear to have it all together. Comparison is a liar and a thief! Instead reach over and take your sisters-in-Christ hand and look straight into the face of Jesus knowing you were beautifully and wonderfully made for such a time as this! Be real. Be transparent. Be all that He created you to be! We are a force for the Kingdom to be reckoned with if we choose to stand together. We can be a beautiful light that shines bright into a lost and dying world and show them Who our Hope is!

I challenge you my sweet sisters to take it all off knowing that when we choose to live an authentic, transparent, fully surrendered life we will be blown away at what our God will do in and through us. There’s no amount of pretending that will ever transform itself into reality. It’s when we’re at our most vulnerable, admit our weaknesses and cry out to God that Jehovah Jireh, reveals that He is enough, even if…

“Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting], but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!” Proverbs‬ ‭31:30‬