Breaking Free from Beauty Standards: Embracing Your Role as a Digital Influencer in Christian Ministry

Are you feeling 'not pretty enough' to be an influencer in the digital space? Is this lie holding you back from fully stepping into the ministry God has called you to? We're here to debunk this myth, and remind you that true beauty comes from being created in God's image. We unravel the damaging lie that Satan uses to keep us from fulfilling our divine purpose and discuss the importance of being vulnerable and stepping out of your comfort zone. As Christian women, it's vital for us to live out the values we write about and encourage others to do the same.

Let's address an issue that has kept many Christian women from realizing their potential - the lie that if we don't meet society's standards of beauty, we can't be influencers in the digital world. This mindset not only hinders us from influencing others but also prevents us from carrying out God's call in our lives. So, let's step out and be bold. Let's show the world that our beauty is not defined by worldly standards but by the fact that we are created in God's image. Join us as we walk together in this journey of breaking free from societal pressures and confidently stepping into what God has called us to do.

If you are interested in taking your digital discipleship to the next level through blogging, YouTube, social media, and/or online Bible study groups, be sure to join my private FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/kingdombloggers
You can also follow me on YouTube where you will find a variety of helpful tutorials for navigating each of these important platforms: https://www.youtube.com/@KingdomBloggers

Transcript

LeeAnn Fox: 0:02

Welcome to the Kingdom Influencers podcast, where our mission is to get more Jesus online. This podcast will equip and empower ministry leaders as well as regular everyday Christians to take the message of Jesus Christ throughout the digital realm. I'm your host, LeeAnn Fox, digital Ministry Coach and the creator of the Kingdom Bloggers Ministry, and I am so excited and honored to be a part of this journey with you. Let's get started. Hey everyone, leanne here from Kingdom Bloggers. So one thing I get asked all the time, or not asked, but conversations I have with Christian women that reach out to me for assistance and I'm helping them kind of map out their growth of their ministry, and it's the idea of that they're not pretty enough to or, you know, they don't have the features that are pretty enough according to the world standards to be on social media, like I'm not pretty enough to be an influencer, and so I want to unpack that today and kind of just let you know.

LeeAnn Fox: 0:59

Number one this is the biggest lie the enemy uses to keep us from doing all that God has created us to do or called for us to do. You know it's easy to hide behind just being a blogger because you can buy graphics and you don't have to put your face out there. Many that I've actually spoken to over the years don't even share the fact that they have a blog with, like their friends and family, like people in their personal life have no idea, because they just don't want to be made fun of, they don't want to be ridiculed and things like that. And I totally get it. I mean, nobody wants to be made, you know, fun of or anything like that, and we know the enemy can be really good at using social media to do that. The trolls and things like that can really be hateful.

LeeAnn Fox: 1:44

But I want to tell you this number one, as a Christian woman who is anywhere in your journey of faith but if you're taking this leap to be a digital disciple, number one, we practice what we preach. Okay, and this is a hard truth and it might sting a little, but how can we expect others to believe this story, to believe this journey, to believe you know this whole thing that we're trying to sell them? Of course, you know, not selling in the context of money, but we're trying to sell the idea to people that, hey, being a Christian and living this life is wonderful and all the things that enemy, the lies of the enemy and all that you know. Forget it. Come over here, join this team, because this is where you want to be. How can we expect people to believe in that if we're not following our own advice, if we're not embodying the things that we're writing about and some of these conversations that I've had with women? These women actually have posts on their site, blog posts about identity and Christ, about confidence, about things like that, and so it's just kind of ironic that we fall victim to this lie ourselves.

LeeAnn Fox: 2:49

And so the thing about it is look, god called you to do something. He called you to something bigger, and we need to trust in Him. And, first and foremost, we are created in God's image, and so when you say that you're not pretty enough, you're basically saying God's not pretty. Okay, so we just put it in that context. Right, and like you would never say that. But when you discredit your own features, your own standard of beauty, you're basically discrediting what God has made, because you are God's masterpiece, like we must remember that. And so on a flip side of this, aside from all that the Bible says about your beauty and your confidence, let's flip the script, to excuse me the person out there that God has called you to reach.

LeeAnn Fox: 3:33

You know I'm here, I have chicken feathers because y'all know I got chickens. I literally just came from walking my dog and tending to the chickens. Okay, here I am. And so, number one nobody will want to follow me because I'm not pretty enough. Well, you're watching this video, so I think we just settled that argument. Okay, the fact is, people follow you because they relate to you. I don't know about you, but I do not relate to you.

LeeAnn Fox: 3:56

Any of those picture perfect Instagrammers, like a Christian mom talking about how just everything's beautiful, like everything's great. I have no problems because God's on my side and life is great and it's perfect House is clean. That is. That's a lie. Like that is not believable. So why would you feel the need to portray that? What is more believable is there's like kids everywhere and kids are crying in the background. You know the house is a mess and you look a mess.

LeeAnn Fox: 4:23

If I'm that woman in the world and I see you, I'll be like oh my gosh, she's me. Let me hear what she has to say. If you're older, so you know I'm in my fifties, I just turned 50 this year. Young girls don't want to hear from me. But women my age Well, I take that back. There are younger women who follow this ministry because I'm one of the only ministries out there that teach this stuff. But aside from that, you know, and just general life stuff, I would be like kind of following women my age, the season of life, kids off to college, you know, empty nest or whatever Whereas younger women want to follow girls in their age, women in their age, you know, single, going to college, doing the things that are happening in that season of life and the things of importance to them in that season.

LeeAnn Fox: 5:05

Wherever you fall on that spectrum, if you're young, if you're old, if you're very petite and if you're a little on the larger side, if you're of one nationality or another nationality, it does not matter. What matters is the message that God has called you to share. And so another thing is best when you step out of your comfort zone and be vulnerable, put yourself out there, looking how you look, you are also encouraging others, because when they see you do it, then they are more likely to take that leap of faith as well. More older women, let's say women who are maybe much older than me, who see another woman 60, 70, 80 years old on camera being confident with you know, the wrinkles and the gray hair and whatever comes with age then that might inspire another woman who is in that season, who has felt a calling but has been hesitant because they didn't like how they look. It might inspire them to take that leap of faith and imagine if more and more women just forgot what they look like in the mirror and forgot what the world says about what they look like in the mirror and just focus on what God says about you.

LeeAnn Fox: 6:19

How much we could accomplish in this digital landscape. How much you can accomplish just personally, whatever goals you have Maybe they are financial, there's nothing wrong with that they act of face stepping out in face, stepping out of your comfort zone and being reminded of who you are in Christ, and not what the world says about any physical attribute that you have. Right, because God created you and he created you for something specific, and you cannot accomplish that if you're so hung up on worldly characteristics and traits. These are worldly things. I just want to encourage you today. I'm serious y'all.

LeeAnn Fox: 6:59

I have had so many conversations with women when I talk about okay, the next part of blogging is to start doing videos. Start a YouTube channel, immediately everyone's like ugh, right, their face just goes horrible. It's almost every time when I teach my classes and stuff, or doing these short videos on Instagram. Instagram is more about video. Now For one, if you're not jumping on the video train, you're going to have a really hard time with growth of your ministry as a whole. You're really going to have a hard time reaching the person that needs to hear your message, because people prefer to consume video content, and so there's that Right.

LeeAnn Fox: 7:34

And so I came on today looking like this I mean, y'all know I don't really put on makeup and I don't get all dolled up. I mean I did just renovate my office, so the whole part about perfect backdrop. It's been five years and I really wanted to refresh my office, just for my own personal, to make it a little more, less cluttered. It was really cluttered before. And so this, I mean it's I guess it's pretty, but you don't have to have this Like if y'all saw some of my videos. If, like, go back on my channel to like several years ago, when the ministry first started, like, the lighting was horrible, it just they weren't good y'all. But you know what People watched them and because they watched them, they joined, you know, my group or they took my courses or whatever, and they become a part of this community. So it didn't matter what I looked like. What mattered was the message. The message is what matters, and so I want to encourage you today.

LeeAnn Fox: 8:24

If you've been on the fence about taking that next step, just take small steps. Do a small little video or a live on you know Instagram or Facebook or something, or heck. Hop over to my, so my Facebook group, and we can do some in there to where only the people in the group can see it, but get comfortable doing it. Don't worry about your hair being perfect. I mean, I literally had chicken feathers in my hair, this thing like it's dripping sweat down the back of my night. That's probably TMI. Feel Good thing. You can't smell me right now and I have dirt and I have probably other stuff in my bra from being out in the garden, like it's okay. And the proof is that you are watching this video and taking in and absorbing what message I am delivering to you today.

LeeAnn Fox: 9:06

Y'all did not. Now I'll be honest. Some of y'all probably saw me looking like this on the thumbnail for the video or like, oh my gosh, what is she doing? And watched it just for that reason. But you still watched it, and that's the point.

LeeAnn Fox: 9:19

And so I want to encourage you today. God called you to some quit making excuses based on what the world is telling you and just be obedient. Rely on your confidence in God, because that is what mattered. He created you. You are a masterpiece, no matter what season, no matter what color your hair is, no matter how much gray hair or wrinkles or whatever. God called you to this and he wants you to do something really great, but he's waiting for you to get past your own hang up. So anyway, guys, I hope this was helpful to someone. I hope it was encouraging. I know you're not going to run out make videos. I know it's just a process. I get that, but if anyway I can help you, please let me know, because we have so much work to do in this digital space and we need more women to step out of their comfort zones and into what God has called them to do. God bless and bye, bye.