Do you know that you're beautiful?

You are.

You are gorgeous.

You are absolutely, wonderfully perfect.

Do you know that?

Do you believe it?

YOU.

I heard a song on the radio recently that made me start thinking about all of this. You're probably going to laugh when I tell you what song it was, but I love that Jesus can speak through an infinite number of things - including the lyrics of a secular song. :)

According to You
{by Orianthi}

According to you
I'm stupid
I'm useless
I can't do anything right

According to you
I'm difficult
Hard to please
Forever changing my mind
I'm a mess in a dress
Can't show up on time
Even if it would save my life
According to you
According to you

But according to him
I'm beautiful, incredible
He can't get me out of his head
According to him
I'm funny,irresistible
Everything he ever wanted
Everything is opposite
I don't feel like stopping it
So baby tell me what I got to lose
He's into me for everything I'm not
According to you

According to you
I'm boring
I'm moody
You can't take me any place

According to you
I suck at telling jokes cause I always give it away
I'm the girl with the worst attention span
You're the boy who puts up with it
According to you
According to you

But according to him
I'm beautiful,incredible
He can't get me out of his head

According to him
I'm funny, irresistible
Everything he ever wanted
Everything is opposite
I don't feel like stopping it
So baby tell me what I got to lose
He's into me for everything I'm not
According to you

I need to feel appreciated
like I'm not hated
Oh, no
Why can't you see me through his eyes?
It's too bad you're making me dizz-ay

But according to him
I'm beautiful,incredible
He can't get me out of his head


According to him
I'm funny, irresistible
Everything he ever wanted
Everything is opposite
I don't feel like stopping it
So baby tell me what I got to lose
He's into me for everything I'm not
According to you

While that song is obviously about a some boys with differing opinions about a girl (sung from the girl's perspective), when I heard the chorus I couldn't help but think about how that is exactly how God feels about you and me. He can't get us out of His head. He designed us perfectly and He wouldn't change a thing.

I wonder how many of us truly believe that and walk in the confidence of that? (Do you end that with a question mark? I've never been sure.)

I was blessed to have parents (especially a father - because I believe daughter's NEED to hear it from their dads) that always made me feel like I was the prettiest girl ever made. Not in a way that suggested I was better than others - I just was always taught that I was beautiful because I was created by a perfect Creator who knew exactly what He was doing. I was also taught that "pretty is as pretty does" so my inside needed to be as pretty as my outside. :)

Thankfully there have been very few times in my life that I have struggled with self-esteem issues (like a few weeks ago when I had to buy a new bra that was the same small size I bought in 7th grade - thank you breastfeeding), but I know there are countless numbers of girls and women that struggle every day with feeling like they aren't beautiful or worthy or whatever because of {insert issue with body here}. If you are reading this I want you to know that the little voice that tells you that you aren't is LYING.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are WONDERFUL, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

His "works" include you.

I wonder if the little girl twirling in her new skirt knows that she is prettier than any fun, twirly dress?

I wonder if the teenager looking at the magazine with bikini-clad models knows that God finds her incredibly perfect just the way she is?

I wonder if the new mother desperately trying to lose the "baby weight" knows that the extra weight and stretch marks are to Him the sign of another perfect life being born and that she is mesmerizing to Him?

I wonder if the middle aged woman struggling to "keep up" with her body and those of the women she sees on tv knows that He loves her and wouldn't dream about trading her in for a "newer model? " :)

I wonder if the old lady with wrinkled, sagging, and sun-spotted skin knows that she is just as gorgeous today as she was in her "prime" and He loves her still?

I wonder if anyone is telling them that they are beautiful?

I'm telling you that YOU ARE, but I want you to hear it not from me, but from the One who made you that way - the only One whose opinion matters. :)

Hear Him say:

"{Your name here}, You're beautiful. You're INCREDIBLE. You're everything I've ever wanted. And I LOVE you."

Tell someone else that they are beautiful today.

(Sheesh. Can I say "beautiful" any more times?) :)