Today we believe that outside beauty is flawless perfection. Both women and men will do anything to reach that level. I've heard a saying, "Pretty hurts," and I am honestly so frustrated with this. We are teaching young men and women that they are not good enough the way that they are and that they need to change themselves. We are teaching them that it's OK to go to great lengths and to hurt themselves just so that others think they are "pretty." God did not create us to be changed.

God created us in his image and we were never meant to be altered. I love makeup, but I don't use it to change my appearance. I like to think of makeup as something that enhances our appearance, not transform it. I look like the same person when I wash my makeup off and I honestly take some pride in that. We are not meant to put ourselves through hell just so we reach the standard of beauty that society has placed upon us. It's outrageous to me that young girls are wearing mounds of makeup because society has told them that's what they need to do.

1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Your beauty should not come from outwards adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

This verse sums it all up for me. It's not the clothes we wear and it's not the hairstyle we have that makes us who we are. What makes us who we are is what's in our heart. What makes us who we are is what's inside us. You could be an absolutely beautiful person on the outside, but if your heart is ugly, then your outside beauty means nothing.

We were created to spread the love of God and it's through his love that we are made beautiful. We were not made to sit at home and spend two hours doing our makeup and contouring our face so that we look like a different person. We were not made to buy products that alter our image.

Pretty should not hurt— it shouldn't be hard, it shouldn't be time consuming, it shouldn't be waking up two hours early just so you can get ready and look good for class. Pretty is who you are as a person.

You are beautiful and you are enough. You do not need to change anything about yourself. I cannot stress to you all how important it is that we all realize this. We are beautiful in the eyes of our God and it's so necessary that we start acting like it.

I want to leave you with this verse from Songs of Solomon:

"You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you."