Truthfully, I care a lot about how I look! Waking up in the morning with messy hair or painful acne can really destroy my confidence for the day. I know I spend a lot of time on how I look on the outside, but what about the inside? 
 In a world where social media feeds us unrealistic standards about outer beauty, it is easy to lose sight of what matters most. Models fit into dresses so seamlessly, influencers use all the “best” skin products, and even AI generates images of perfected women. And guess what?? Young girls are looking at this stuff! It’s terrifying. This is why inner beauty is so crucial. 
 Radiance is a word I like to associate with inner beauty. I believe it is beauty that comes from the inside by being happy and full of love. So, even though I want to look pretty on the outside, I choose to care more about what I look like on the inside. I struggled a lot with choosing radiance over outward beauty. I felt like girls my age looked so much older and more womanly than I did. I thought covering my acne scars in foundation would make me more beautiful. I wanted to believe that running every day and cutting calories kept me in shape. But wait! This is all so wrong! Instead, strive to be loving. Strive to be kind. Strive to carry confidence in who you are wherever you are. That is true radiance!
  Sure, I still want to believe I’m beautiful, but feeling beautiful is completely different. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I see is my love, empathy, humor, and kindness I exude. I don’t look at the messy hair or acne scars anymore. I challenge everyone to do the same. Look for radiance on the inside so that you can emit it on the outside. You are all beautiful and radiant, so do not let a mirror or social media tell you otherwise!

I think it is safe to say that almost every girl and woman has a hard time believing they are beautiful. For me, it is one of my biggest struggles. It is something that plays into a lot of what we see and hear about, which in return affects how we feel about ourselves. On social media we base a lot of who we are on likes and comments. I personally begin to compare myself to anyone and everyone on social media, whether it’s my body, my beauty, my aesthetic, my outfits, my makeup, my hair, my smile, the list could go on. I find myself never truly satisfied with who I am and what I have. Over the past year I have had to really take a step back. January of my Junior year I took a break from social media. I was over it. I was over all the comparison, all the negativity, and I was truly over finding my worth in so many other things that were never going to fulfill me. I had social media deleted for about 5 months, and it was one of the most freeing things I had ever experienced. I realized comparison was a thief of my joy, and a tactic the enemy used to try and get me to focus on things of this world. Things that are only temporary. I was able to truly live and experience things without having to worry about getting the perfect instagram picture. I was more grounded and I was living for each moment. 
During this time I truly made it my goal to get deeply rooted in who the Lord said I was. One of my favorite scriptures is in Isaiah 43. The first time I read this passage I was in awe of the Lord, and it changed everything for me. For some context, in this passage the Lord is speaking about Israel. All throughout the Old Testament we see the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Israelites. They are constantly messing up, but the Lord remains faithful and pours out so much overwhelming grace upon them. He delivered them from so much evil, but it was hard for them to see that. 
In Isaiah 43:1 the Lord says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Later in Isaiah 43:4 the Lord says, “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.” These words at times are so incredibly hard to believe. It is hard for me to see past my mess and my insecurities. It is hard to believe that I am seen as precious in His eyes, and that He loves me even at my darkest moments. 
There are many moments when I am like the Israelites and I fall back into old habits of comparison, and I allow negative thoughts to fill my mind. However, the Lord is so good and gracious! He does not care how we look or how many likes we get on a post! All He sees is our heart, and He wants to know our heart. He sees us as so much more than what the world says about us or labels us as. Instead, He sees us as His beloved daughter: chosen, set apart, unique, precious, honored, loved, worthy, enough, forgiven, redeemed, strong, valuable, capable, gifted, significant, equipped, renewed, never alone, treasured and so incredibly beautiful. We are beautiful beyond measure, but we put ourselves in societies boxes of what is acceptable, right and beautiful. 
Societies measure of beauty does not even compare to the measure of the One who came down to save us and know us for who we truly are. When we truly begin to see beauty through the Lord’s eyes our perspective changes, and our joy is rooted in the blessings that the Lord freely pours out to us daily!! For any girl reading this, I know a lot of what I said is easier said than done, but don’t let that defeat you. You have a divine purpose and calling from the Lord, and He sees you and calls you by name. He will never ever fail you, and He will never ever stop loving you and pursing your heart!