The World's Ugliest Girl?

So I was watching Youtube videos and I came across a girl name Lizzie Velasquez's channel. I am ashamed and disgusted to admit that when I first saw her I thought "omg ew". After I watched her video, however, I immediately became disgusted with myself.

Lizzie has a disease that causes her not to gain weight; she is also blind in one eye. At the age of 15 evil people posted a photo of her on the internet and titled her "the most ugly girl in the world."

Today, not only does Lizzie continue to smile and praise God everyday she also is a motivational speaker, an author, and a Youtuber! She's inspired millions, even Tori Kelly who wrote a song about her. CLICK HERE

Lizzie is everything that I can only hope to be in life. Faithful to God, faithful to giving back, and faithful to happiness.

After watching Lizzie's videos on Youtube I forced myself to watch more videos about diseased and mentally ill people. I did this because I want to change my mindset.

I don't know about you, but growing up I feel like I was trained to be afraid and or disgusted by diseased and mentally ill people. In public school the "special needs" student were separated from the rest of us in class, in the lunch room, and even in the hallways (we didn't walk through the halls at the same time). We were never given any speeches about how they are people too and how we needed to respect them. Therefore, they were often made fun of.

Once I switched to private school I finally had a discussion about it. My school brought in a man in a wheel chair to discuss his daily struggles and how we should treat people with special needs. My school, however, didn't accept special needs students into the institution.

So as I looked at Lizzie for the first time I carried that mindset with me. I used societies idea of what is beautiful and what is normal to judge her.

 I guess I forgot who my father is.

In God's eyes we are all equal and he loves us the same. He is not limited to the worlds definition of love and beauty; his definitions are so much deeper.

1 Peter 3:3-4 states:

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight 

Another scripture Proverbs 31:30 states

Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised 

PHYSICAL BEAUTY FADES and we know this! So why do we continue to judge someones worth based on the physical? Why are we so afraid of not being "beautiful" according to society's standards? Why aren't we more concerned about being beautiful according to God's standards?

God made everything on this earth and I can assure you he didn't make one mistake. NOT ONE!

So I'm writing this today to challenge you!

First I want you to stop fighting to fit the world's definition of beautiful (or handsome for my guys). The dictionary states that beauty is "possessing qualities that are pleasing to see". But as I stated earlier the bible says beauty comes from who you are inside. So who are you going to believe the dictionary made by man or the bible inspired by God?

Second, I want you to cleanse your mind of the fear of people who are different and realize that we are equal. No you don't have to force yourself to watch sad documentaries but I do want you to get out of your comfort zone and defeat those ugly concepts that aren't Christ like!

A way you can do this is by volunteering.

In case no one told you, THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOU.  Life isn't about what you can get it's about what you can give! It's about how many lives you can impact. It's about how many people you can help and spread the good news to!

So once again in the new year I challenge you to volunteer in three new places. And yes NEW places. Get out of your comfort zone! My comfort zone in volunteering is definitely with children. I'm great with kids but if I want to get rid of that "ew" mindset I need to start volunteering at hospitals (maybe even a children's hospital), soup kitchens etc.

Maybe you work well with special needs and diseased individuals. Maybe you truly believe that everyone is beautiful. Well don't worry because this message is still for you. None of us are perfect so I want you to really reflect and find something (a habit, mindset etc) that isn't Christ like and I want you to make it your goal to remove it from your life in 2015!

I love you guys and  I can't wait for us to grow together this next year!

Don't forget to volunteer. And Lizzie if you read this I want you to know you are one of God's greatest creations and you are beautiful. Thank you for opening my eyes.


*Kisses*


Admiria

Some videos to inspire:

Lizzie's Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myLphSZY0FE
Servant Leadership: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlTzLd6oXC0

And finally when you pray please mention "Deon Stewart" he is a young man that is very sick and has been through a ton of surgeries one in which he had to remove his hand! Please keep him in your prayers!