I have always enjoyed swimming, but as I grew up, I began feeling so insecure about my body, especially during the summer. It really wasn't my body that made me not enjoy swimming, anymore, but the looks that other girls gave me. (You know what I'm talking about. We've all given that "Oh she looks like that?!?" look to another girl before and it wasn't a good look) And that "look" makes us think that we need to fix ourselves because we get insecure about our bodies.

Now every girl on the planet is insecure about one thing or another, and most of the time, it is the way our bodies look. We work out or try to diet to lose weight in order to look better. We use different skin care products to clear up the bumps on us. We put a bunch of makeup on to go outside so no one will look at the mess underneath. We always want to make ourselves look better to impress others or just to feel good. But here is the truth:

You are always going to be 100% happy with the way you look.

A few years ago, I finally got to be 5'11" and I honestly hated it. I thought "Now it's harder for me to find a guy taller than me" and "Why am I so tall, all of my other friends aren't this tall." (The rest of my friends were around 5'6ish″) I was always bothered by height because I was the "tall friend".

Here is the reason why I am telling you this. We can try and try to fix things about our bodies, our skin, our weight, etc. but somethings just can't be changed. I can't change my height, naturally. Yes, I can put on high heels, but I am still going to be 5'11" without the shoes on. I can wear contacts to make my eyes a different color, but once remove my contacts, they will still be blue. God made us that way for a reason. He didn't want you to look like the girl next to you. He wanted you to look like YOU.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is —- His good, pleasing, and perfect will." – Romans 12:2

When we as women put a label on another person, it sticks with them, and it makes them feel bad and insecure about it. We need to realize that we live in a world where this happens a lot, and it shouldn't. Instead of judging others and giving them "the look", we need to be lifting them up and embracing it. Not every girl is going to look the same, and no one should try to look like anyone else.

"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." – 1 Peter 3: 3-4

God made you, YOU. Not the girl next to you or the girl standing in front of you. Don't feel like you have to impress anyone because God loves you just the way you are, and Godly people should too. Satan tries to tempt us into thinking that we aren't good enough, but he is wrong. God loves us and has already proven that to us. As Christian women, that is change we need to bring to the world. We need lift others up about their insecurities. We need to teach our kids that they don't need to worry about not being skinny enough, or not being pretty enough because in the end, none of it matters. All that matters is the love that the Lord gives us and give it to the world.

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." – 1 Samuel 16:7

I hope that this swimsuit season, you feel beautiful and know that God thinks you are too. Don't worry about what anyone thinks or says because you are YOU. Embrace it.