|Be Bold, Princess|

By Caitlin Hunt

​Luke 7: 37 & 39 ESV “And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

There I was at 15 years old, on my knees, completely sobbing inside of a grave. I had finally reached my breaking point; I could no longer handle living my life listening to the constant whispering of lies from The Enemy. Ever since my 13th birthday, when one of my classmates told me that I was fat, ugly, & only had friends because they felt sorry for me, I hated myself & the way I looked. From that day forward, Satan crept in & continually whispered lies into my ear.

“You are so ugly.” “No man will ever love you” “God can’t use you; you’re just a number to Him.” “Your life will never have eternal significance.” “You’ll never be pretty if you don’t lose weight.”

I believed every word. I let his whispers consume me & pierce my heart. I hated those words so I decided the only way to get them to stop was to lose weight & fast. The quickest way to accomplish that? Not eat. But I couldn’t just not eat, my friends would notice at lunch and my parents would notice when we ate dinner together. I decided that I would eat to keep up appearances but I would go to the bathroom during class & sneak away after dinner to throw up. It worked! When I returned to school in the fall, people started to notice. The popular girls commented on how great I looked and for a moment, it made me happy. But, the whispers didn’t stop, they only grew worse. Fast forward 2.5 years to summer camp where we had dug a huge “grave” where we were to go down in it individually to pray & ask the Lord what we needed to “die” to, what we needed to give up to Him, or if we needed to offer our life in dedication back to Him.

Mary offered her precious flask of alabaster to Jesus & anointed his feet with it using her tears and her hair. What Mary did was an act of love. She gave her best- a gift of great value & cost to her. It was also a heart-felt act of humility & reverence. Jesus knew that Mary loved Him, she could have kept the flask for herself. She would have still been a follower of Jesus, but imagine what heavenly gifts could she have given up by holding onto her earthy treasure?

I had to ask myself if I could be as selfless and devoted as Mary. Could I give up my precious possession, my image of my self-worth, and lay it at Jesus’ feet as an act of devotion and surrender to the Lord? 

What about you, Princess? Are you bold enough to give up that which is treasured to you to honor God & to be an example to those around you? Is it a dream? A selfish desire? Is it a relationship with another person? Really take some time to pray about it and ask the Lord to speak to your heart about what is keeping you form fully surrendering your life to Him.

You may have noticed that in verse 39 Mary was judged by a religious Pharisee. The sad truth is that once we have become dedicated to Christ, willing to offer our life & possession to Him, a lot of people will not understand; even Christians. They could be jealous, they may not understand, or they could be “self-righteous” & condescending. Don’t let them make you doubt the value of your offering! Don’t be afraid to step out boldly for Christ, no matter what the outcome may be.

My prayer for you, beautiful one, is that you will take the little treasures locked inside your heart and lavish them on the Lord. That you won’t hold back and that you would worship Him with extravagant, unashamed praise! That you will dedicate your life in ministry to Him & to bless those around you. BE BOLD, dear Princess! Don’t let anyone stop you from your God given calling.

And finally, if you are like me, struggling to see your beauty; please keep these scriptures written upon your heart. 

Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is in your midst,  a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness;  he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” And Psalms 45:11 “and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.” 

The King of kings created you just as you are. He delights in who you are & in your beauty! Never forget what a treasure you are to Him, YOU are his precious daughter! You make His heart sing!