The other day I looked in the mirror.

Yuck.

My acne was so bad I could play one intense game of connect the dots. The other day I ate an entire bowl from Chipotle and felt like a pregnant whale. And somehow, I always end up stalking Kendall Jenner’s Instagram wishing I would magically wake up and have her legs.

I was walking to my 3:30 p.m. class when I heard another girl talking to her friend about someone she followed on Instagram. Maybe it was Kendall Jenner or Kate Hudson. Or it could be that one girl from high school who gets 900 likes on a donut that we doubt she eats because in her bikini picture, she has a 6-pack.

They did the typical, “like, she’s not even real. I wonder how it feels to look like that.”

I chuckled. I’ve been there ladies.

The truth is that behind each bikini picture, model test-shot, and senior picture is still a girl who wakes up and doesn’t feel “pretty enough.” Behind every girl at the beach is a girl who at one point in time doubted her worth because she doesn’t always have a flat stomach. Behind every confident Instagram post is a girl who screenshotted six filter options and texted her group message, “do my arms look fat in this?”

Now, I’m about to tell you something that you probably didn’t expect to hear from me, but: you don’t feel pretty enough, because you aren’t pretty enough.

I was told by a group of boys in 8th grade that I was so ugly I would l never get a boyfriend. I bet my Instagram followers didn’t know I still look in the mirror and hear those lies from time to time. I bet there is still a guy right now who doesn’t think I’m pretty enough for him. I bet there is still a girl out there who thinks I look like a potato.

We can’t please this world because we weren’t meant for this world.

You weren’t made to satisfy a boy or make girls jealous. You weren’t made to score the fire emoji on the picture you post with your friend at her birthday dinner. You weren’t made to be gawked at. You were made to worship Christ.

Hey girls, here’s the truth. We struggle with thinking our worth comes from the world–and that is a sin. We are putting the world’s view of us ahead of our relationship with Christ. Because of this, insecurity is causing you to insult the image of Christ in the mirror you see each morning.

Coming from a girl who spent many of her high school years over-dieting and working herself out to the point where she would cry on the scale– I know insecurity. I know what it feels like to hate your body. But I also know how temporary your body is, and that walking with Christ can save you from those lies.

Insecurity is causing you to obsess over the boy you know is no good, all because you want to feel wanted. Insecurity is causing you to find your worth in how you look on a Friday night, where you end up doing things you regret the next morning. Insecurity is causing you to stray from God.

So here’s the reality: you aren’t pretty enough for this world. You will always find someone who thinks you look like a potato– and that is okay because their opinion does not matter. Stop finding your worth in the world because right now the Lord is whispering this truth to you, my sister.

You are pretty enough for me, my darling. I created waterfalls, sunflowers and puppies–and still love you more. I created you in the image of me. Focus on me, keep your eyes on me, and stop listening to what the world thinks about you.

Christ is stretching out His arms for you right now, and having them nailed to the cross. His death was for you– the you with the pimples, stomach with rolls, and the you that hates herself in the mirror. So start loving God’s creation and using your everyday to bring Him joy–not to make guys think you are hot.

So you aren’t pretty enough for the world– but you are pretty enough for the King of Kings and THAT is something to celebrate.

1 Peter 2:10-11 “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.””

Your physical beauty is temporary and fleeting. Your identity is in Christ not the amount of likes you receive. You have new mercies each morning that are more beautiful than you will ever be. Rest in that truth.

Check out my website by clicking here for more articles on self-worth. Love you guys!