Here I Am, Lord: Devotions from Time of GraceSýnishorn

I Don’t Feel Very Good About Myself Lord, you know that many days my smile and outward calm are only a mask. They are the mask I wear to hide what’s really going on inside me. I wish I felt like more of a success. I wish I didn’t spend so much time worrying about my looks and hating all my flaws. I wish I felt more self-confident. Here’s my guilty secret--I don’t like myself very much. I have many dark feelings and moods. I am painfully aware of my failings and shortcomings. I try so hard to improve my appearance, but I fear it’s a lost cause. I will never think of myself as good-looking. Lord, you are my great hope. You are the great lover of the unlovely. You are the one who befriends the lonely and the losers; you give beauty for ashes. You make me feel wanted and precious. “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Help me stop obsessing about my looks and what people might think about me. What matters most is that you care for me. Thank you for your unconditional love for me. If you forgive me, I can forgive myself. If you like me, I can like myself. If you think I’m somebody, then I’m somebody indeed.