Beauty 101: It's True

I know that I have many opinions on many different things, who doesn’t? But I’m tired of people thinking bad things about themselves, girls in particular (simply because I am a girl and know the struggles, not because y’all with the Y chromosome aren’t awesome!). So it’s time that my thoughts on beauty pour outward. In the next few days or so, I’ll be writing a series of posts on beauty that will hopefully help each of you, even those of my male readers.

It's True.

A friend once told me that her boyfriend had called her beautiful. She said that it was a major confidence booster, even though it wasn't true. I looked at her and kind of cocked my head questioningly, saying of course it was true. We went back and forth for a few moments, and then I firmly said "All people are beautiful." And that is so unbelievably true, even though we don't always see it. No matter how many times we fight against compliments, no matter how many times we look in the mirror and think that there is no possible way that the mess we see could be beautiful, none of that is right. What is right is that all people are beautiful. You are beautiful.

Today's society tells us that in order to be beautiful we need to wear layers upon layers of makeup to hide blemishes, we need to wear a dress size zero, and if we don't, we need to squeeze into one anyway. According to society we need to have small feet and long fingers, and silky long hair. But that's not where actual beauty comes from. Actual beauty comes from the inside, not the outside. 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 3 and 4 say "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."

God loves each and everyone of us, and we are each amazingly beautiful in His eyes. But God doesn't see what we as humans see. While we're looking at the outward appearance, God sees the inside. He sees our thoughts, and our motivations. And He absolutely loves us. Guess what, God created each of us in His own image, so of course we're beautiful.

Please believe people when they tell you that you are beautiful, because it's true! And also, today, I challenge you to work towards looking at the inward beauty of yourself and others, as opposed to the outward appearance. Try to see what our Heavenly Father see. He rejoices over us!