When looking at magazines with models, it is quickly evident what society is attracted to and what they call beautiful. Growing up looking at these “flawless” ideals encouraged me to acquiesce to the cultures definition of “beautiful.” I thought that you had to wear lots of makeup, have clear skin, and had to be very skinny to be beautiful, and this caused me to not be comfortable in my skin. I always lacked some feature deemed beautiful and then I would feel inadequate because I didn't meet society’s standards. I was looking at the world and what they call pretty, but their view is not realistic, and it encourages people to be fake and push things to extremes. People starve themselves to be skinny so they’ll be considered beautiful in the eyes of society, but they don’t have to do that, and it breaks my heart. Once I realized that I was trying to hold myself to the world’s standard of beauty, which is constantly changing and judgmental, I knew I didn’t want to do that. I turned to God’s view of beauty and was reminded of Genesis 1:27, which talks about the fact that we are made in the image of God and Psalm 139:13-14. “For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise you because I have been fearfully and wonderfully made.” These verses reminded me that I was beautiful because I was a child of God, and He created me beautifully just the way I am. I realized that I was trying to change myself to fit with the world and was unintentionally showing God that I wasn’t happy with how I was created and felt like I needed to change. I didn’t want that to be the case, so I prayed to God and asked Him for strength and confidence, and He gave me both. I became confident in my skin and went to God for beauty standards instead of the world, and it made a significant difference in my confidence. However, the bigger thing I took away from the situation was from 1 Samuel 16:7, “God does not see as man sees. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” It is so much more important to have a pure heart devoted to God than to be called beautiful in the eyes of a society that will quickly fade away. Focus on your relationship with God and living a godly life, and your natural beauty will begin to shine. When God is your number one, and you work to live at His standards, you will be beautiful inside and out in His eyes. Go to God. He’s eternal, loves you, and wants a personal relationship.
