IN GOD’S IMAGE

When her beautiful brown skin started losing its colour, a young teen felt scared—as if she were disappearing or losing herself. With heavy makeup, she covered up “my spots” as she called them—patches of lighter skin caused by a condition called vitiligo. It’s a loss of skin pigment called melanin which gives skin its colour tone.

Then one day, she asked herself, Why am I hiding? Relying on God’s strength to accept herself, she stopped wearing heavy makeup. Soon she began getting attention for her self-confidence. Eventually she became the first spokesmodel with vitiligo for a global cosmetics brand.

“It’s such a blessing,” she said, explaining that her trust in God, along with the support of her family and friends, gives her the courage to be the person God made her to be.

This woman’s story is a powerful reminder that we each are created in God’s image. “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (GENESIS 1:27). No matter what we look like on the outside, all of us are image-bearers of God. As His created people, we show His glory; and as Christians we are being transformed to look more and more like Jesus in how we live.

Do you struggle to love the skin you’re in? Today, look in the mirror and tell yourself the truth: “I am made in God’s image—just as He planned; just as He designed.” And then let’s ask God to make Jesus obvious to others when they look at us.

Thinking it over . . .

What’s more important to you—how people see you or if they see God in you? What are ways you can show God’s image to your friends at school today?