"Oh the beauty of a woman's worth, but how much more beautiful when she sees it for herself" - Unknown

Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks as the corners of her lips curved more and more upward towards her ears. The smile on her face showed joy and innocence, but the tears rolling down her face showed the pain and disbelief. I sat across from this young girl who I had just met within that same hour and watched the battle of expression of joy and pain on her face. Three words, that is all I said to her. Honestly, they were the only words that needed to be said. "You are beautiful". Three simple words, yet so much emotion was saturated behind that word - beautiful. According to Webster's Dictionary, Beautiful is defined as "possessing qualities that give great pleasure to the senses and mind. & of a very high standard; wonderful". Full of beauty is the literal meaning of this adjective. Seems like such a simple and overused word, so why is there so much emotion hidden behind the definition?

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" this is an overused phrase which we were told as kids and continue to tell our own children as we try to encourage them not to let other's hateful words affect them. This phrase is one of the greatest lies that we tell children - along with the one that if they sit too close to the television they will go cross-eyed. Because, let me tell you, I have had my fair share of broken bones and they have healed much faster than the hateful words that still pierce my heart. The verbal abuse that we face by society and loved ones cuts deep into our hearts and become roots which we soon believe these lies as the truth. Words hold so much more power than we could ever imagine. As humans, we have this longing desire to feel accepted and to feel wanted. This desire is crafted into our hearts by the Heavenly Father, that we would turn this desire into a pursuit and passion to know Him. However, society bombards us through television, magazines, and social media, influencing us as to what true beauty looks like and how to be accepted into society. With so much power behind every word we say, we hold the solution of how to empower one another, to lift one another up and remind each other of just how beautifully and wonderfully we were created.

Beauty is a topic most people, especially women, battle in the mirror every single day. Society tells us that if we do not look a certain way, wear a certain size, weigh a certain number, or dress a certain way, then we are not beautiful. We are filled with these deceptions of what true beauty is. True beauty is being uniquely and perfectly made in the Father's righteous hands, therefore, every single person is beautiful. Every person is a child of God and these passages within the Bible about being fearfully and wonderfully made apply to every individual crafted in the Heavenly Father's hands. Since we are perfectly and beautifully made in the image of God, then why do we let these lies define us? Why would we listen to anyone other than God? In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he writes "for we live by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV). Much easier said than done, agreed? When we are bombarded with these false truths of what society perceives beauty to be, we become unsettled by a foundation of lies that we soon begin to believe. But how do you think God feels when we look at ourselves in the mirror and hate the image He created us to be?

Not too long ago, I was battling with the lies that consumed my mind, and glancing in the mirror was the most destructive battlefield of all; I was battling with my self-image, unlike any other person of the human race. I wanted to change the way I looked. I wanted my hair to be longer, I wanted to be taller, I wanted my hips to be smaller, I wanted to look like someone who I wasn't. It was in this moment of battling these horrific lies that I heard my Father's voice, "but I made you beautiful. I made you perfect." I fell to my knees in disgrace with myself. I was ashamed that I was telling my Heavenly Father, who made me perfect in His image and uniquely beautiful, that I hated every aspect of who He created me to be. This was a major revelation for me, realizing that every flaw and quirk that I hated about myself is indeed what God marvels at and what He admires the most about me. Ever since this revelation of mine, I find myself looking at the people around me, even the quirkiest of individuals, and declaring prayers over them that they would understand just how truly beautiful God made them. The girl who hates her curly hair, God adored every hair He placed on her head. The guy who hates the freckles on his face, God smiled as He uniquely set one in line with the other. The woman who hates her hips and wishes to be "skinny", those extra pounds do not weigh on God's heart and, quite honestly, He is in love with her womanly figure that will one day bear many beautiful children. The man who hates his height, who feels out of place standing next to his taller friends and unqualified for the ball team, God sees him as perfectly qualified and still chooses him for His team. My dad, who is a very intelligent and wise man, once said to me that "we see in others what we fail to see in ourselves." When we spend so much time consumed in the beauty of others it is simply because we fail to acknowledge the perfectly flawed human staring back at us in the mirror.

The point I am trying to get across here is despite what you may falsely believe about yourself, because of what loved ones have said or society has surrounded you with, God admires you. God molded you perfectly in His righteous hands and He was more than pleased with His work. He saw that it was good. Not the "good" that universities teach us is deserving of a mediocre 'B', but righteously and heavenly good. In other words, when God saw the image He created you to be, He was ecstatic. He is fascinated in your beauty, your uniqueness, and your perfectly flawed self.

Beautiful; one word that holds so much power. I comment on other people's beauty not because I am fishing for a compliment in return (I already know the works of my Father), but because I truly see individuals for how the Heavenly Father crafted them. Not only this, but also because of the beautiful light that is released from within a person when they hear this one word. What this world needs is not another "Beauty Tips" article or photo filter. This society needs more people willing to use the weapon of destruction against the enemy; the weapon of love and encouragement to lift one another up in glory. This can be done with the use of one word, beautiful. If more people began to use this word for the glory of the Kingdom and remind one another just how beautiful they truly are, then maybe, just maybe, more children would live in peace and confidence in who they are and Who they belong to.