When I say “beauty,” what do you think? Do you think of long and luscious hair, perfectly plucked brows, red plump lips, or the fullest of eyelashes? Do you think of the seemingly perfect celebrities on the face of every magazine? I do. It’s hard to look at pictures of celebrities on TV, in magazines, and in the movies and not want to change something about yourself to look more like them. However, here’s the real question. Why is it that we hold their “beauty” so much higher than that of our own? This article is to let whoever may be reading it know that you are more beautiful than you think.
Three of my favorite verses include: Isaiah 64:8 which says, “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand,” Psalm 139:13-14, “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, “ and Song of Solomon 4:7, “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” No matter how many times I read these verses and tell myself that I am beautifully and wonderfully made, that I am crafted perfectly in my potter’s hand, and that I am altogether beautiful, it still doesn’t seem to register in my mind. I don’t believe it to be true. That is one of my biggest struggles. However, something that the Lord has been working on in my heart is that I have been made perfectly in the eyes of my creator. Thanks to my faith, I have the comfort of knowing that my savior made me in his pristine image, even if I don’t believe it to be true at times. However, the sad thing is that there are so many men and women in the world who do not know the love of a Heavenly Father and who see their flaws as flaws. They see themselves the way that the world has portrayed them to be, how society perceives them, and not how Christ really intended them to see themselves. We, as daughters of Christ, must find beauty within ourselves so that we can empower the women around us to also find the God-given beauty within them as well. Strive to fall in love more and more with God. Earnestly seek him and pray that he will consume your heart. If you do that, I promise you that He will allow you to fall in love with who he made you to be. Each and every part of yourself that you have grown to hate, he will transform into something that you see as beautiful.
It’s hard living in a world where it seems that you constantly never measure up. I get that. It’s hard waking up for class every day with the pressure of doing your hair and makeup. However, the amazing thing is that we serve a God who has overcome the world, the same world that tells us that we don’t measure up. We have a God who is bigger than the magazines that tell us that we aren’t pretty enough or thin enough. We serve a God who looks beneath the layers of makeup and hair products to the beautiful freckles that he put on your cheeks and the kinky waves that he put in your hair. I want you to know that you are made of more than the flaws that you may see in the mirror and that you are more beautiful than anything that you could ever want to change about yourself. Each freckle on your face, every bag under your eye, and every blemish on your skin has beauty, whether you see it or not. Believe in yourself. You are more beautiful than you think.
