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Beauty.

I, as a 17 year old teenager, desire to feel beautiful.
I wondered about this today as I attended church and as I drove home. What is beauty? When was the last time I felt beautiful? What defines what makes a girl beautiful? One definition I found online of the word beautiful was: Having qualities that delight the senses, especially the sense of sight. I wanted to investigate. I asked about 10 of my closest girl friends, "When was the last time you felt beautiful?" I received answers such as these:
"Friday"
"Graduation"
"Prom"
"I can't remember, maybe prom."
"I'm not sure."
"When I was with____(her last boyfriend)."
"Today! _____(name) makes me feel beautiful all the time."
"To be honest I don't think about when I look beautiful. When someone tells me it surprises me."
"Forever ago"

Then I went on to ask those same girls, "What defines what makes a girl beautiful?" I received these answers:
"I'm not sure. I don't think beauty can be defined."
"Self Confidence, intelligence, personality."
"When a girl is confident in herself."
"I guess confidence. Like I judge myself on how I feel compared to other girls."
"They are eye-catching."
"I really don't know. I know I'm supposed to say inner beauty and a kind heart but in a society that puts far more value into a girl's appearance than her heart it's sort of hard to say such a thing."

The last comment made me think a lot. I feel as if society honestly does make beauty a thing of a outward appearance. Whatever happened to inner beauty? What about the beauty Christ sees in you? A amazing women named Elaine Dalton who is a member of my church said the following statement."The world puts so much emphasis on physical attractiveness and would have you believe that you are to look like a model on the cover of a magazine. The Lord would tell you that you are each uniquely beautiful. When you are virtuous, chaste, and morally clean, your inner beauty glows in your eyes and in your face. There is no more beautiful sight than a young women who glows with the light of the spirit, who is confident and courageous because she is virtuous."

I want all my friends who I questioned to know that I don't think they are beautiful. I KNOW they are beautiful. I wish everyone would look at themselves each day and think, "I am beautiful because I am a daughter of God. He made me and I know that he loves me." It's so true. You are his daughter, and I know he loves you.

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