Instead I want you to understand the power of your body and the messages it communicates. It’s mosquito men that go for the exposed skin, treating you as an object willing to be used.
Hot and modest sound like two ends of a spectrum. But, they often have similar goals because we are all wired the same. We each have an innate craving for love, the unconditional kind–a love that thinks we’re great but won’t leave when we prove our greatness has limits.
The difference: Hot is in a hurry. Hot wants a man to notice, to admire, to appreciate right now. Hot worries that the majority of her greatness can be seen on her person and feels most secure keeping the attention there.
Modest doesn’t mind the process taking a little longer. Modest knows that her greatest assets aren’t physical. She wants love too, but attracts the kind that doesn’t require her to stay a certain size to keep that love.
In some ways, I hate that I see things so much more clearly at forty than I did at twenty-five. I’m embarrassed to look at the clothes I wore, the mosquito men I fell for, and the desperate ways I tried to use my body to find love.
I wanted love so badly. I didn’t fully understand that there was someone who already loved me. I knew the words, but my heart couldn’t comprehend it. I thought a physical kind of love would be more satisfying—that a flesh and blood man to affirm my beauty would heal my brokenness.
But it didn’t.
My sweet friend, I don’t want to watch you go down the same heart-breaking path. I want you to respect, not objectify, yourself. Dress cute, look nice, wear pretty clothing. But, don’t sell yourself short by working to be hot. It just draws the mosquitos.
There is one, though, who can fill your greatest need for love. He doesn’t require you to starve yourself, dress like a porn star or keep up with our culture’s impossible standard for looking hot. His name is Jesus and he wants you to know how valuable, lovable, and accepted you are.
Love,
Heather
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Read this next: Should a Christian Woman Wear a Bikini?
Ready to dump your body image issues and beat the comparison game once and for all?
