First of all: you are beautiful, you are amazing, and you are loved. Nothing about your past or present will ever make you unworthy of love.

Shame is a nasty thing. It overtakes your emotions and causes fear and insecurity to creep in to your life. The humiliation felt from shame can be very overwhelming. I know that shame sucks. I know that there is not much I can say to make you feel loved. I will say though, that there is only one person that can take away the dirt that you feel covering you and turn it into roses. It is not some boy that makes you feel loved or beautiful. It is not some action or friend that will be able to help. Your awesome amazing God is the only one who can make you feel like the amazing daughter you are.

A princess. A daughter of the ultimate King.

I know it is easier said than done, but unfortunately, trying to fill holes with validation from people never works. Life would be helped SO MUCH if we could just hear compliments and actually believe them, but it does not work that way for most people.

I will say that for me, I had to realize that my past did not define me. My choices in the past did not create my identity or decide my destiny. However, the way I treat people, how I love people did, and my role as a child of God does.

Whatever it is that makes you feel shame or insecurity has been forgotten long ago by the One who created you and guides your steps. God LOVES to take the things that we consider failures and mistakes and make them into something beautiful. He can create artwork from the broken pieces that you consider worthless. He gets so much joy from showing you that you are really awesome! He loves showing you how proud of you He is.

You may be thinking that if He loves to do this then why hasn't He done it in your life yet? To be honest, only God knows that answer, but He is faithful when you keep asking. When you get up everyday and ask Him to show you how awesome you are, you will eventually realize that He has been showing you all along. Sometimes it is hard to see Him move when we are in the middle of our emotions and thoughts, but He loves you too much to not move and work on your behalf.

He loves you, He is proud of you and you should be too because you are beautifully crafted and carefully designed. The world needed one of you.