Defining Beauty

  Today's standard of beauty is clouded. By today's standpoint beauty is defined by how much skin is revealed, how provocative the post or how much likes a picture can get. You're expected to be unnaturally thin based on fashion magazines and catalogs but in fact, those models have been Photoshopped and air-brushed to an almost scary and unnatural size. Their thighs, waist and breasts has been altered to fit a flawed standard. Their eyes have been widened, lips enlarged and faces reduced. Unfortunately this standard of beauty compels many to take up unhealthy lifestyles starving themselves to conform to an image they were created to shun.

   Social media has now been made the center of most of our lives. It's easy to paint a picture of ourselves that isn't even true just to get more likes, more followers or more friends. But in the end, why does that even matter? You're not defined by how many friends you have on Facebook, how many likes your pictures get on Instagram or even how many followers you have on twitter. You don't have to conform to the provocative image most people have given into today. You don't have to paint a picture at all, just be who you are and the right people will come. Even if you have to stand alone for a while, stand up for who you are.

   Everything doesn't have to be seen and everything doesn't have to be revealed. Anything you post on the internet stays there, believe me. That picture that got you so many likes may one day be seen by a future employer, your spouse our even your children. You don't want them to see a picture that you used to paint a story of your life that wasn't even true.

   You have countless cosmetics that are meant to stuff that you don't even understand but all you know is that it will make you beautiful. You don't have to hide behind layers and layers of make-up. People want to see the real you: the beautiful you. Don't mind those who make fun of or criticize you. They don't matter because the right people will appreciate who you are.
  
    You're not defined by social media. You're not defined by those who don't appreciate you. You're not defined by those who encourage you to conform to a flawed standard of beauty. You don't have to show skin to be appreciated. You're a human being not a piece of meat, so don't let anyone treat you like one.

  People need to see you. You are more than your body. People need to see your soul. The world needs to see your smile not your thighs. They need to hear you laugh with joy not cry out with frustration. They need to see your beauty - your true beauty that lies deeper than the surface created by society. 

   Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the beholder is Jesus. He's made you the way he wanted to be from the beginning. You don't have to conform to flawed standards of beauty - you can be yourself.