Former Ms. Universe Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters Defines True Beauty And Confidence

Ms. Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters gave a powerful and on-point definition of true beauty and confidence.

She and her husband, famous football player Tim Tebow, guested in a program, and the host gave her a few minutes to discuss what true beauty was since the world defined beauty in a different light.

She recalled her experience several years ago when she joined Ms. Universe. She said, “At that time there was 95 countries competing that year, and probably in the history of Ms. Universe, I was one of the shortest girls to go and compete for this title.”

She said that beauty queens and models were usually tall and that people placed her in a box and said, “Oh, she won’t win because she’s too short and started defining me in certain ways.” Demi admitted that she got affected by these comments negatively. She added, “In the same way, I know of so many young girls watch Instagram or watch Social media and put themselves in boxes, and that it is the way Social media defines us to look or act like.”

This beauty queen knew that she should not let these things define her worth. She went back to her roots, her faith, and turned to God’s word for the truth. “As a Christian, I’ve had to go back and define self-love, self-worth, self-image to myself.”

She defined true confidence as this: “As a Christian, I need to have confidence in who God says I am, not self-confidence, but God-confidence.”

This beautiful woman also quoted Psalm 139: 13-14 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”

She went on to explain that the word “knit” was special for her. It reminded her of her grandmother who used to knit her little jerseys or sweaters when she was young. She said, “And she would make the most beautiful patterns. And one time she made me like a little Panda bear…She spent days just sitting there, knitting that jersey, pulling it out, redoing it, wanting to make sure that it’s perfect.” This made her realize that “God knit us in our mother’s womb, that He had a precise plan for our life. That He created us in love, by love, and for love.”

She ended this very touching message with these words that will surely create an imprint on anyone’s heart. She said, “And if that does not make you feel worthy, I don’t think any amount of make-up, any amount of clothes, any amount of shoes, any amount of bags will ever make you feel worthy.” She also encouraged people to “go back to really defining what self-confidence looks like, that we need to remove the word self, and replace it with God, and make it God-confidence.”

As of writing, this Facebook post has gone viral with more than 600K views, thousands of likes, and hundreds of comments. Guess many were reminded who to turn to remind us of our real worth, purpose, and beauty. It’s about time to affirm that you and the people around you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by a great, great God. 

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7