Beloved.

By Bethany Davies Whitaker

    My Dear Beloved,

    Don’t you know you are worth more than the numbers on the scale? You are more than the size of your jeans, or the measurement of your waist. You are more than the time spent placing each piece of hair where it needs to be. You are more than the hours standing before a mirror, painting brush strokes on your face to hide each blemish and the things you think are mistakes.

    I see you sitting on the closet floor; weeping from the feelings of worthlessness.

    You truly don’t see how lovely you are?

    Hush now lovely one, because I do. I see straight through to the true you.

    You may not perceive or comprehend it, but you are esteemed, valued, chosen, set apart and loved. So radically loved by God you couldn’t possibly fathom it. He calls you beautiful one.

    There is no room, no person, that can tell you what you are made of. But look to the Holy One and try your best to understand it.

    You are a woman of noble courage. A gentle spirit that flows through each person you encounter. You are a living, breathing example of endless, boundless grace. There is beauty in your simplicity, not just in your face.

    You are a Masterpiece, but simultaneously, an ever changing art of progression. An unraveling mystery of hope, love, and brilliancy.

    Tell me, when did you learn that beauty lies in your skin, and not from what’s within? You define your worth through a mirror, instead of through the people you’ve made better by simply being here. You’ve left pieces of yourself in every person you’ve embraced. They think of you everyday and you’ve left your love in every heart you’ve ever touched.

    It’s high time for you to just believe. Truthfully, beautiful is an apathetic way to describe you because you are beloved. Cherished. Adored.

    Open up your eyes and behold your true worth.

From author's blog "Altogether Beautiful."