From a young age, we are told, "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you. As long as you're happy, nothing else matters."

I often wonder, "What's wrong with me?" or, "Am I not good enough?" I am not afraid to admit that I struggle with my confidence. I am constantly worrying about what people think of me. I also worry a lot about other people in my life. Quite frequently I ignore my happiness and well-being for the sake of others. I strive to make sure all of my friends and family are happy and feel included. I hope that I am a person that any of my friends or family know that they can call or text at any time. If anyone I love needs anything, I will always drop my things and come to them, even though sometimes it's inconvenient for me. But that is what love does. One of the Bible verses I try to live my life by is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."

I try to be all of these things. But sometimes I think that I love other people too much and forget about loving myself. I will go out of my way to make sure anyone I care about is feeling good, but I never stop to take the time to ask myself, "How I am doing?" or, "Do I love myself?" I love all of my family and friends with an unconditional and compassionate love. But I also know that I cannot truly love other people unless I love myself. I am constantly finding flaws in myself while simultaneously trying to celebrate the goodness of other people. Part of my confidence issue is being unhappy with the way I look. Whenever I look in the mirror, I always find something I want to change. But when I am criticizing myself, Genesis 1:27 always seems to pop in my head.

"So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female He created them."

So after reflecting on this verse, I have come to the conclusion that when I do not love myself, I am not loving God. I am a creation of God; well, more specifically, I am a beautiful creation of God. He loved me so much that He made me look like Him, and I find comfort in that. So just as I am always trying to find ways to praise and love God, I should be trying to discover new and great things to love about myself. When you love yourself, you are loving God too.

We must take care of ourselves and love ourselves just as we love The Church. 1 Corinthians 6:1-20 says,

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

This verse reiterates my belief that by loving myself, I will be honoring God. God loves everything and everyone with unwavering and unconditional love. If I could show just a fraction of that love to myself, I would be so pleased.

As long as I know God loves me, I can build my faith and love upon Him. I will learn to fully love and appreciate everything about myself eventually. Loving yourself is not an innate thing. Rather, it is learned through Godly examples of other people showing acts of love to people who need it. You need to surround yourself with people that will uplift you and encourage you to see the goodness in yourself. I strive to be a person that can show God's love to anyone and everyone. By outwardly showing that I am learning to love myself, I hope that I can be a good role model someday for someone who needs a person to look up to for guidance and to be a light in people's lives.

But to answer the first two questions I posed:

Nothing is wrong with me. Am I flawed? Yes. But that makes me human. I make mistakes yet God loves me anyways. There is no reason for you and I to be so harsh on ourselves. Embrace your flaws because they make you who you are. And yes, I am good enough. If I am good enough for God, then I am good enough for myself. I don't deserve God's love. I did nothing to earn His love. But that's the beauty of God. He loves us despite the fact we did nothing to earn His love.

And as for my opening quote, it does matter what people think. I want people to see me and think, "Wow, she loves everybody and she is one of the most caring people I have met." When people think of me, I want them to see that even though I have struggled, I eventually learned to love myself, and most importantly God.