Embrace Yourself!

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and wished you looked like someone else? Maybe some celebrity, model, or friend? I know I used to compare myself all the time to other people and just wished I could change my facial features. But recently, I've learned to love and embrace myself for who I am. You will never be perfect if you keep on comparing yourselves to others. Compare yourself based on your own strengths and weaknesses. You are all unique and perfectly made. I know it's easy to compare yourself with other people, but it will only put yourself down and degrade your own confidence. Self-Confidence comes from yourself, not others. You will never learn to love and embrace yourself if you keep trying to be like that person or that model. Doing so will only lead you to find endless faults of yourself.

Love yourself because you can. Love yourself because you're the only one on this earth who is made to look like you! Don't let the world define you and your beauty. True beauty is within the inside; your heart. I talk a lot about the heart because your heart is everything about you. Anyone can change their look through plastic surgery, but no one can change your heart. Your heart is what holds the key to your beauty and happiness. Many people think, "If I just looked like him/her I would be happy." The truth is, many models/celebrities who have the "looks" are not always as happy as those who aren't considered "models." Good looks will not make you happy, but having a pure heart will! When you learn to grow your heart and embrace yourself, you will see that your inner beauty will soon come out stronger than your outer beauty. Inner beauty has more power to impact the world than outer beauty. It's nice to meet people who are pretty and attractive, but meeting someone with a beautiful pure heart is what can touch the world. Instead of wishing you were someone else, develop your own inner beauty!

I used to be self-conscious about my chin ever since I had to go through surgery to remove a mole that was there. Because of the surgery, my chin is slightly unsymmetrical. I used to hate seeing my chin and would always compare myself to others. I kept thinking to myself, "I wasn't born this way, I just want to fix this!" Now, I don't want to let my chin ruin my confidence. We should all learn to embrace ourselves with our own imperfections. I would rather invest on my heart than on my outer beauty.

Psalm 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Be proud that God made you the way you are. You are all created with his love and passion before the day you were born. There may be days when you will feel down, but it's ok because we are all never perfect. The most important thing is to get back up with a smile on! You will see that when you learn to embrace yourself, you will see yourself as more beautiful.

So remember, Love and Embrace yourself<3

Taming Your Words

Have you heard of the saying, "If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say it at all". I know I have failed in this department. I've said many kind things, but at the same time I have also said negative things to and about other people. I am guilty of this and I'm sure many of you are also! We should all learn to tame our mouths.  You may think words are just words and they don't have permanents effects, however, although words are nothing tangible, they can still hurt people's feelings like a sword cutting through your heart. 

Everything you say comes from your heart. You can't say you have a pure heart if the words from your mouth don't resemble it. Your words come from one root; your heart. James 3:10-12 says, "Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should be not. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? Can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water." Your mouth is like a mirror to your heart. Everything you say reflects how you feel. Keeping a pure heart should influence your mouth to say positive things, and taming your mouth/words will also keep your heart sane. Your mouth and heart work hand in hand, they are vice versa. 

Jesus also led a great example of speaking life to others and taming his words. Throughout his whole life, he always spoke of life. Even on the day he was crucified his last words were, "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do."Even though Jesus was ridiculed and crucified in pain on the cross, his words to everyone were still full of love during his last breath of life. Let's all follow Jesus and let our words speak of life. Speak life to others and yourself! Let's all learn to grow a pure heart and let our mouths resemble it. Don't think that our words are too little of importance to effect our lives and others. James 3:10-11 says, "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil amount the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."

No one is perfect and we will never be perfect 247. There will always be times when we fail, but what is important is that we go back up and strive to be a better Christian than yesterday. We may fail a thousand times, but God's mercy will bring us up a thousand times more. So remember, tame your words each and every day. 

The Power of Faith

Have there been moments in your life when you felt like there's no way out? When you felt lost and hopeless? When everything around you seems to fail? I know I have had moments of worry and fear in my life and I am sure many of you out there have felt the same. During these times, it's important to hold on your faith in God. There is power in having faith. Matthew 17:20 says, "Truly I tell you, If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." This verse just shows you what faith can do. With faith nothing is impossible!

The bible shows us the power of faith through many examples of the people God used. For example, If Moses didn't have faith in God, he could never have freed all the slaves from Pharaoh and cross the Red Sea. As a human, Moses was not capable of stepping up as a leader against Pharaoh, but with his faith in God, anything was possible. Another great example is the story of Abraham. Abraham was able to reach the promise land and have many decendents to come because of his faith to God. Although God took Abraham out from his home and comfort zone, into a desert and the unknown, he still kept going and had faith that God would lead him to the promise land. His faith resulted to great blessings. It says in Genesis 22:17, "I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore." There are other endless examples used in the bible to show the power of faith. Some examples are the story of David and Goliath, Sampson, March of Jericho, Noah and the ark, and many more. If you think about it, everyone used by God in the bible needed faith. Before they could even start God's work, the first thing they needed was to have faith. Faith requires taking a huge step, but in return your reward will be great. 

If you are struggling in life, or if God has called you to do his ministry, don't hesitate and take the leap of faith. Trust in him because he knows what's best for you. The first thing we need to do to accomplish God's calling is to have faith in him. After faith, the rest will come together. Have faith in God, believe in him, and lastly trust in God! With all 3 things you can accomplish what God has in stored for you. Believe in yourself because you can count on God.  Unlike knowledge, faith has no limits. Faith is what allows miracles to happen. And yes, the miracles that happened centuries ago in the bible can still happen today! Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

God honors your hard work and faith to him. He will reward those who seek him. Hebrews 13:5 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Through faith, you can gain the promises God has in stored for you. With faith, anything is possible.  Let your faith drive your hope! So remember, faith has power. 

A New Year and a Better You!

Happy New Year Everyone! Can you believe it's 2014 already? I'm sure may of you have made your new years resolutions for this coming year. New years is a great time to look back through last year and acknowledge God's blessings in your life. It's also a perfect time to analyze ourselves. What are some weaknesses that you learned about yourself from the past year? What can you do this year to be a better person? It's important to stop and analyze yourself to see where you are at in life.  Making goals and dedicating yourself to them is what will strive you to a successful year. It's so easy to let a goal just be a goal without resulting to any accomplishments. I know I made some new years resolutions back in 2013 that never got accomplished, and I'm sure this has happened to others as well. Here are some tips that I've learned that will make your goals for this year turn into a success!

1. Take the first step and take action! Goals are't goals without action. Start working on your goals now. Sometimes we tend to think of goals as something for the long run, when really goals require action now. Take it a step at a time, but the most important thing it to take the first step.

2. Learn from yourself and others. Learn from the mistakes you made last year and be better! Listen to others and learn from their mistakes as well. Getting wisdom from others is great because you learn without having to go through the mistakes and troubles they went through. The key is striving to be a better person than yesterday.

3. Remind and Analyze. It's important to constantly remind yourself of your goals and to analyze where you are at with them. It's so easy to let the days pass by without us realizing. The next thing you know, a year has passed by and your goals aren't accomplished. I would recommend getting a planner or notebook and making it a habit to go over your goals every night.

I believe one goal that everyone should have is to be closer to God than last year. To grow in him each and everyday. We will never reach perfection in our relationship with God. There's always more we can learn, and more we can grow our love and faith to him. Deuteronomy 4:29 says, "But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul." Let's make our goal to seek God more and more everyday. I know this is one of my top goals for the year.

We will never be perfect people, but striving to be one is never a bad thing. So remember, make this year a better you!

YOUTUBE Video: A New Year and a Better You!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkzk8MAFRQ