Do you feel beautiful? Ugly?
Being a teen girl is hard enough with school, friends, parents, boys, and the list goes on. For some reason, we always put an extra pressure on ourselves to be beautiful. We KILL ourselves to get that one boys attention or to hear the 3 words, "you look beautiful."
Whether it be in putting on more make-up, styling our hair a certain way, having the best clothes, or hardly eating, girls are constantly striving to be beautiful.
I think the biggest pressure girls put on themselves is to be thin.
We look at TV stars or Victoria Secret models and see their bodies...stick thin. We also see that guys are in awe of these girls. So, we think if we look like them, we can get a guys attention, too!
It may not be that you want to be thin for a guy; maybe it is because of your parents.
Your parents might tell you to loose weight or stop eating so much! Then you get upset and they say that they are just looking out for you and the cycle continues.
Some girls take things to extremes. You might become very cautious of what you are eating, record your calories, workout all the time, or even worse, fall into the trap of an eating disorder.
Being obsessive about your weight won't change a thing about what you're feeling in your heart. Your longing to feel beautiful won't be found by what you see in the mirror.
God created us in the perfect image of Him. We all have different flaws or things we don't like about our appearance... but God blessed us with those differences for a purpose.
I know for me, I have a very small figure. You can easily tell when I loose definition in my arms, stomach, or legs. Also, it is VERY obvious when I put on a few pounds. The worst part is, I AM OBSESSED WITH FOOD. I literally eat just because I am bored or think it is fun. Growing up, I kind of ate whatever I wanted and didn't see anything change in my body because I was always active with my running and dance. When I moved to California, I was no longer on a cross-country and track team, nor dance team. Yes, I still dance and run, but not like I used to. However, I kept eating the same way. Eventually the food caught up with my body and I began to fill out. Now, another problem... I eat when I am sad. Seeing that I was gaining weight, I became sad! WHICH MADE ME WANT TO EAT SOME COOKIE DOUGH ICE CREAM!!!!
One morning when I was reading my bible, I came across this verse:
You satisfy me more than the richest of foods. Psalms 63:5 (NLT)
That really spoke to me in the fact that Jesus should satisify me more than food. I don't have to constantly be thinking about food, I should be thinking about Him instead.
Then, I came across this verse:
The eyes of all look to you in hope; you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. Psalms 145:15-16 (NLT)
I am still working on not always thinking about food. However, now when I get super hungry, I remember that Jesus went 40 days without food.... so I can go a few hours.
Your body is a temple of the Lord. He created it to be what He wants it to be. Don't abuse it by not taking care of it.
Now back to the topic of beauty. Beauty isn't defined by what you see when you look in the mirror. I looked at the dictionary definition, which stated:
an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm.
Beauty isn't defined by what you see when you look in the mirror. It is that one extra thing that comes from within. Your personality and happiness is what makes someone beautiful in my eyes. A girl who is happy with her appearance and doesn't compare herself to other girls, size wise, is a truly confident, beautiful lady.
Embrace yourself, for the Lord created you to look different than everybody else.
