The Seven, I mean eight wonders!

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14

I’m sure many of us have heard of the Seven Wonders of the World, seven magnificent places that we will probably never manage to visit in our lifetimes. Yet in our daily lives, we are surrounded by incredible beauty and, from my perspective, prove to be things that are far more beautiful than the identified seven! Let’s be honest, our lives can be hectic! It can be hard to stop and appreciate all the beauty around us because we are so caught up in all the tasks we have to accomplish before we go to bed, only to then get up and do it all again! But what if the beauty was right there with you, every moment of every day? Stop! Whatever you are doing in this moment, stop. Go find a mirror and look in it. You can even grab your phone and use the camera as if taking a selfie! Do you see that reflection staring back at you? Do you see the beauty, or does your inner critic stand between you and your reflection, only pointing out perceived negatives? God knows better! For God sees every ounce of your beauty and reminds us that “you are the light of the world”. He sees your glory and knows that you shine in all you do, for “a city on a hill cannot be hidden”. O.K. So if you’re like me, you’re probably thinking in your head that sure, in theory it sounds great but the reality is that you feel far different and may even berate yourself daily with negative thoughts. How many times have you said “I’m not good enough”, “I’m a failure”, “I’m fat”, or “I’ll never amount to anything”? These are the negative tapes that, if allowed, like to run riot in your mind and become obstacles to you believing what the Big Guy tells us. So my challenge today is to start something new, a new practice so to speak. Every day as you begin your day, look in the mirror and tell that reflection one thing that you like about it or one thing you’re proud of. For example, “you’re beautiful inside and out”, or “you did a great job finishing that paper you had to write”! Even that may be a challenge and so a smaller step would look something like this, “I love my legs because they help me to move around during the day”, or “ I am proud of you for starting that assignment”. Still too big or that voice saying ‘yeah, right!!!’? That’s O.K. There’s still one more opportunity. You see, God knows that it may take time for us to see our own beauty and so asks us to trust in Him and start small. We have to be open to believing it’s true and that’s exactly how we can say it - ‘I’m open to believing that I am beautiful’ or ‘I’m open to believing I am awesome’. If we are willing to start small, God will take care of the rest until we can believe that we truly are “the light of the world” in our lives and so to let ourselves shine! Go on, I DARE you .... start today by grabbing a journal. Every day, I DARE you to write one positive affirmation about yourself. You’ll be amazed where that journey takes you and before long, you will not only allow yourself to shine but will fully embrace that light within and believe it!