A Story of Beauty from South Africa

Beauties -

My name is Monje Jordaan! I am 20 years of age and I am from a small town called Krugersdorp in South Africa. I am excited to serve as your South Africa Representative.

Growing up as a girl was not always easy. There was a lot of uncertainty on how to fit in with society, how to get a perfect body and how to maintain a beautiful skin. I think one of the most tragic difficulties facing young women is the fact that we don’t want to be perfect for ourselves... but for SOCIETY.  We will do anything just to fit in with the world out there. We are trying to change one of the most precious masterpieces ever made.

Think about it:  How cool is it that the same God that created mountains and oceans and galaxies looked at you and thought the world needed one of you too…why even change that?

 
A couple of years ago, I went through a difficult time myself. I am a girl who was always worried about what other people think and say about me. I always wanted to be perfect, have a perfect body, flawless skin, and be accepted by society. I wanted to master everything by myself, without any assistance…just to prove people wrong. At some point in my life I even tried unhealthy ways to lose weight, but ended up hurting myself emotionally instead. My family was going through another divorce. We were splitting up and relationships were taken away from me.

It all caught up with me: I started getting anxiety attacks.  

Being the stubborn girl I was (and still am), I went on trying to do everything by myself. Dealing with the pain, the emotions and actions that went with it…doing my own thing and following my own path. Never knowing that God was standing on the side line trying to reach my hand to help me. Things got hard, I was losing a lot of weight and I was having multiple attacks where I was unconscious for 10-20 minutes, unaware when the next attack will happen and where I'd be when it struck. I fought a lot with God, blaming Him for all the things that went wrong in my life. I kept losing weight, relationships ended, I drifted away from people who meant the world to me… but most of all, I drifted away from God. I was more worried about what people thought of me and what I can do to be more beautiful that I completely missed the point.  

In the beginning of 2015, I had my biggest anxiety attack... which was my worst one too. I got the attack in my University dorm... I hit my head on my closet shelf and I was unconscious for 30-40 minutes. I was rushed to the hospital and they struggled to get a pulse rate. After I woke up, I didn’t know where I was or even what my own name was. It was horrible. I then realized: “Godly sized problems can not be defeated by manly sized strength”. I decided that it’s not worth it to “fit in” or to go through pain by yourself, you are loved by the most important person alive, He made you as you are and you are BEAUTIFUL!!  It’s not worth it to put yourself through pain and negativity like this.

If your identity is found in a human's praise, you’ll be eternally discontent.  People are fickle out there; they are here today and will be gone tomorrow. They love you when you agree and dislike you when you don’t. With the recent explosion of social media, it seems to me that this problem is getting worse for young women. You post pictures about your life, hoping that people will “like” it. Who even cares if it’s not the real you - you just need that approval.  

Do you know what?  Jesus’ only concern was doing the will of God, He didn’t care what others thought of Him. THIS ATTITUDE IS WHAT THE WORLD IS DESPERATE TO SEE!!  Let’s be honest with each other here, it’s hard to point people to Jesus if you need their approval. When you are looking for that approval from others, your life will have more ups and downs than the Goliath at Six Flags in Georgia. (I rode that thing, believe me)

If I had the chance to say one thing to each one of you...  I'd tell you how beautiful you are.  You are the daughter of a King, so walk like it, talk like it, dress like it and don’t let anyone ever let you doubt in yourself.  Body image is a major problem among young women all over the world. Including me. I am striving to begin to see myself the way God does... as a chosen princess.  He has called us out of darkness and into His light. God has broken us free from the chains of our past, shame and sins. He has given us freedom. When we think poorly of ourselves, we keep ourselves chained up in bondage and that is when anxiety, depression and total negativity takes over. Proverbs 3:15 says:  “She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.” How amazing? 

You may live in this earthly time period, but you are ultimately a daughter of eternity!  You are a beloved, royal daughter of the most High God.  YOU are worthy of love and affection.  You are worth more than you can ever imagine.  You are worth more than the number on the scale, the brand of clothes you wear or even the amount of followers you have on Instagram.  

YOU ARE NEVER TOO MUCH AND YOU ARE ALWAYS ENOUGH.  Don’t ever forget it!!

With love from South Africa,

Monje Jordaan