Beauty

As a 16-year-old, I think about beauty a lot. I think about what it really is, how to have it, why it's important. If you know me well at all, then you probably know that I'm super crazy about makeup. I love playing around with it and I think of it like another accessory, or so I thought. But lately I've been feeling less and less okay with my own "beauty". To be honest, I'm pretty much just writing this to remind myself of what I really believe about what it means to be a beautiful person.

I believe a beautiful person loves God and others way more than themselves. She knows her value doesn't come in an eyeliner, a boy, or what she wears. She knows her only value lies in that Christ is making her into a new person. She's patient, kind, and not afraid to go against the crowd and do what's right. She doesn't critique and tear down other girls in an effort to feel better about herself. She doesn't gossip about other people, because she loves them. She'll pray for a friend in need, but more so than that she'll be on her knees all night on behalf of her enemies.

There's a lot of stuff that comes to my mind when I think of someone who's beautiful, but a HUGE majority of those things can't be bought. I truly look forward to who God's is making me. I really believe it when he says I'm a new creation. I trust that He's going to form my character into something beautiful. That's really what I want: a radiant heart filled with a love for Christ and everyone else. I want to be someone that younger people can look up to, not because of ANYTHING that I've ever done, but because God kept his word and brought beauty from the ashes I gave Him. And I can't take credit for any of it. I don't want to. "No longer I but Christ is inside of me"...so anything beautiful that may come out of my life wont come from me, but the One who lives in me. I'm so thankful already.

--Hannah.