The woman in the mirror gets a lot of criticism. Never quite enough, never quite there, always measured against someone or something else.

But that’s not who God sees when He looks at you.

New Voicemail from God — 5:47 AM

“I want to tell you about the woman I see when I look at you.

She’s beautiful. I wish you could see her the way I do.

– Jacqueline Whitney

She’s not the woman you see in the mirror. She’s not the one you’re so critical of. She’s not the one you keep apologizing for being. She’s not the one you measure against everyone else and find lacking.

The woman I see is the one underneath all of that.

I see the woman who keeps showing up even when she’s tired. The one who chose growth even when it cost her relationships. The one who’s been faithful in seasons no one watched her in. The one who keeps loving people who don’t always love her back the same. I see the woman who’s been brave in ways she doesn’t even count as brave. Who’s been strong in ways she’s dismissed as just doing what she had to do. Who’s been kind even when she had every reason not to be.

I see who you’ve been becoming. The work you’ve been doing in private. The patterns you’ve been breaking. The wounds you’ve been healing.

She’s beautiful. I wish you could see her the way I do. I wish you could be as gentle with her as I am. I wish you could love her the way she deserves.

Start there. Try to see what I see. She’s been there all along.”

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.