As you grow older, you continuously try to prove yourself to others. Consequently, you always end up feeling inferior and as if you are never enough. There are several areas in your life where you seek approval and acceptance from those around you. There comes a time when you have to face yourself in the mirror and tell yourself the truth: you are more than enough. But you are right about something: there are a few things that you are not...
1. You are not your grades.
You probably just finished your finals and moved home for the summer. However, you cannot relax because in the pit of your stomach, there is constant anxiety about your GPA. You want to be consistently on the Dean's List, or you want to remain on the honor roll, or you cannot afford to break your perfect record of a 4.0. These are all wonderful achievements and something to be proud of, yet there is more to life than what goes on your resume. There is a purpose for your life, and you cannot take your grades with you into the afterlife. What you do for others and how you live your life is more important. Your GPA is an achievement, not an identity.
2. You are not your likes on social media.
You feel better about yourself when several people like your selfie or your clever status. However, this is just an illusion. These people like what they see, yet they do not know the real you. Cherish the people who spend quality time with you and go out of their way to love you. These are the people who can give you a genuine feeling of affirmation and adoration. Do not take these people for granted; the majority of the people who like your posts on social media will not be there like you want them to be. Your internet popularity is a facade, not an identity.
3. You are not your weight.
Your weight is only a number that describes your body's relationship with gravity. It says absolutely nothing about your worth, your beauty, your intelligence, or your character. It is difficult to try to ignore the temptations of the world around you, but you are stronger and you are more than what society wants you to be. It doesn't matter if you're underweight, healthy, or overweight. What matters is how you view yourself. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." If you love the skin you're in, no one can take that away from you.
You don't have to fit yourself in to impossible standards, and I know firsthand how difficult it is to love yourself. Therefore, until you start loving yourself, I want you to know that I love you, and no matter who you are, you will always be more than enough to me.
Psalm 139:13-15
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth."
