Remember those middle school days where we use to post or like “Truth Is” posts all the time? Yeah, they were annoying, right? I’m still confused why we did that even though we all “hated” when other people did them. We may have hated them, but we still liked every single “Truth Is” post we saw. I was especially guilty of that. Why? Because other girls would write on my wall and say things like “IDK U but UR RLLY pretty” and to be completely honest, I kind of loved that. I loved strangers, friends and classmates telling me I was pretty. I especially loved when other girls told me I was pretty because in my mind, it made me feel like I was accepted and finally "cool enough." They could have been completely lying, but I didn’t care because as a middle school girl, all I wanted was to be pretty, especially since I struggled with wanting to fit in based on how I looked. Every girl wants to be pretty, beautiful and even captivating.
Fast forward a few years to being in high school. By this time "truth is" posts no longer existed, but I still loved being told I was pretty, and I was told that very often because I had a boyfriend all through high school. During high school, I did doubt if I was pretty, beautiful and even captivating, but I didn’t doubt it too much because I knew somebody thought I was. Because I had a boyfriend, I always knew that somebody thought I was pretty, so even though I still struggled with self-image, I assumed I was pretty because somebody told me I was. I based my beauty and self-worth on what somebody else thought and said about me.
High school quickly ended and college soon began. By this point, my high school boyfriend and I had broken up. It was hard at first, but it didn’t take long for me to be able to move on and meet other people. I thought that meeting other people was what was best for me, until several things ended too fast in my opinion and left me questioning myself with things like, “Did he not think I was pretty enough?” “What if nobody ever finds me to be captivating enough?” “Will I ever be enough for somebody?” But I’m the kind of girl who likes to push things aside, so instead of questioning myself and stressing over the things that happened, I just shoved those feelings aside and decided to enjoy life and live girls' weekends to the fullest (girls weekends are pretty bomb, FYI). A few months passed and those questions I had soon resurfaced. The biggest questions I had was, “Am I pretty enough for a guy to like me?" "Am I captivating enough for a guy to want to get to know me?” Needless to say, I looked in the mirror and felt defeated because I felt like nothing about me was pretty, beautiful or even, captivating.
Thankfully, during all of this, I had what I like to call a “Jesus moment.” While feeling not good enough and questioning myself, my beauty and even, my worth, I instantly remembered the Bible verse that says, “You are altogether beautiful my love; there is no flaw in you” (Song of Songs 4:7). This was a “Jesus moment” for me because I felt like Jesus was saying, “Truth is, you are altogether beautiful, and there is no flaw in you.” Isn’t Jesus just the coolest for whispering just the right things to us at just the right time?
In middle school, I relied on other girls to remind me of my beauty. In high school, I relied on a guy to remind me I was pretty. In college, I struggled because I had nobody to remind me I was pretty. During all of those times, I relied on earthly things to remind me of my beauty when I should’ve relied on Jesus because He always calls us beautiful, pretty, worthy, free and forgiven. Today, I look to my heavenly father to remind me of my worth, not other girls, or even a boy, because in His eyes, we are all the most beautiful people He has ever seen. Every single one of us.
Truth is, you are pretty, beautiful and even, captivating. Jesus created you in His perfect image, and there is no flaw in you. You are altogether beautiful. Don’t ever forget that.
