I think that something that a lot of people in our generation have a hard time remembering is that our self worth doesn't come from other people, it doesn't come from how many followers you have or how many likes you get on a picture, it doesn't come from how many people text you or how many dates you got asked on this weekend, it comes from ourselves and it comes from God. I think that the self esteem of our generation started to go down when the usage of social media started to go up. When the amount of likes your selfie got started to determine how good looking you are. When the amount of followers you have on instagram became a tell of social status or popularity. Right now in the world, we tend to look to other people for our self worth instead of to ourselves or to God. We look to the world to tell us that we are pretty and that we are worth it, when really? It doesn't matter how many times that cute boy likes your picture or how many times that pretty girl favorites your tweet, you won't begin to love yourself until YOU decide to; and I will admit, this is not an easy task. Finding myself and loving myself was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. For me, it took experiencing something extremely challenging and falling into a million pieces to be able to build a person that I loved, to be able to see myself as being enough. Through my trials and through my faith I have been able to learn that I am enough for myself and I am enough for God, and that is all that truly matters. Through my experiences in life and my struggles with self worth, I have been able to come to know that my Father in Heaven loves me for me, not for who the world thinks I should be. Thomas S. Monson once said, "Your Heavenly Father loves you - each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. God's love is there for you whether you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there." Our Father in Heaven will love you no matter what, even if you don't live up to the worlds standards of popularity, you will never unpopular to Him. Following the Lord's ways is the best way to build self worth and to learn to start loving yourself. By following the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and utilizing the amazing spirit that comes from the Holy Ghost, we are able to find more genuine self worth and happiness than from anything that the world has to offer. When it comes down to it, loving yourself isn't about conforming to the ways of the world, it is about realizing who are truly are- a son or daughter of an amazing God. It is about realizing that His opinion is what matters, not the opinion of your hundreds of instagram followers. It is about realizing that you are enough, you have always been enough, and you will always be enough in the eyes of the Lord. When you understand that God's love is infinite and eternal and you understand that you have eternal worth, you will be able to build up your self esteem to the point where you know exactly who you are and it does not matter what the world thinks about you. By relying on our Father in Heaven, we will be able to overcome the standards and expectations of the world. We will be able to overcome the sadness that accompanies not loving what you see in the mirror. Through Him, we will be able to overcome the world and become greater than it. I have a sticky note on my door that I read every time I leave my apartment that says, "I want to be beautiful to Him." By seeing this each day as I leave, I am able to remember that it isn't about what others think about me; if I am choosing the right and doing the things I am suppose to be doing, I will be beautiful in the best and most important way - I will be beautiful to my Father in Heaven. Each day I strive to become beautiful in the eyes of God and not in the eyes of the world. He loves you. He will always love you. So, whenever you're feeling depressed or worthless or feel like you aren't enough, remember that you have eternal worth and you are always enough to God.
{ I was shown this song by someone very close and special to me one year at girls camp and I have never forgotten it. I Want to be Beautiful to Him }
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