As I was walking back to my apartment the other day, an idea popped into my head. That idea was to take a selfie (something I never do) and post it on social media. I’m not sure why I got the idea to be honest, but it was something I wanted to do. After doing my makeup, fixing my hair and taking about 50 photos, there were about five photos that I was happy with. The photos were taken with Snapchat, my iPhone camera, and the “portrait mode,” also on the iPhone. I even went ahead to change the lighting and even added a couple of filters on some of the photos. After about an hour of trying to take the perfect selfie, and debating on taking an old one, I had gotten it. I picked a lyric from one of my favorite Demi Lovato songs for the captions, and slowly but surely, I was getting likes and comments. I was told I was gorgeous, beautiful and pretty. All of these things I had a hard time accomplishing when I was younger, and insI always found something wrong with the photos I took, which made me beat up on myself. So all of those comments meant a lot to me.
After doing that, I posted another photo the following day with a filter on it, and got about the same amount of engagement. I don’t know what happened, I guess I saw other people on social media getting tons of likes for selfies they took, and I guess I wanted that too. I just wanted to see what that felt like.
Even though seeing those comments and getting those likes warmed my heart, it is important to remember that God made us in his image, and that image is beautiful. Beauty is one of God’s defining characteristics. His beauty defines who God is, and what makes him unique. That’s the same with us. Our beauty defines who we are and it’s all beautiful.
“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious,” -Peter 3 3-4