I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.  I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you.  I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments.  I adorned you with jewelry:  I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.  So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth.  Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil.  You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.  And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. (vv. 9-14)

God spared no expense in making us who we are today.  From the moment we began a relationship with him, the Holy Spirit has been in a process of transforming us into perfection.  Part of God's purpose for me daily is to mold me, refine me and make me into a head-turning beauty.

This is also true of our physical bodies.  As the story recounts, God chooses the finest materials, foods and jewelry to make this girl into a beauty queen.  He has done the same for us.  The hair he gave me is a beautiful crown.  My arms, my neck, my nose and my ears – they are like precious jewels.  My skin type and body shape are woven together like the costliest fabric.  My genes are nourished to fruition by culinary delicacies.  God is impassioned when he declares, "The splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect."

Let that sink in.  No, really.  Do we believe it?  God drew on his own splendor to create my body.  Every single part was chosen for me from the most priceless of treasures – including the parts I would rather trade in for a better model.  And when God steps back to look at the full picture, he deems my beauty perfect.

Taken from "Wanting to Be Her" by Michelle Graham. Copyright © 2005 by Michelle Graham. Used with permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515. www.ivpress.com

Michelle Graham is a campus staff member and popular speaker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, serving students at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois.