More Beautiful You

Do you know there could never be a more beautiful you? I don't mean the dressed up, make-uped, spanxed, version of you; but YOU--rolling out of bed after a late night of sorrow--THAT you, is beautiful.
     I'm not talking about the superficial; looks, figure, hair, complexion, etc. aspects that were never meant to define you. Culture changes--looks fade, wrinkle,  get scarred. But true beauty remains. How much freedom would be felt when you take off the mask of makeup, the facade you think you have to present, I don't know, but I do know that your beauty would remain.
     How sweet it is to grasp that no matter what laugh lines, love handles, and blemishes make up you--you are loved. I know all too well how unattainable, air-brushed standards can weigh you down, torment your thoughts, tell you lies about your worth, beauty, and the chances of you being truly loved. I know how one remark about a "flaw" you already are aware of can break you, convince you that you are not beautiful, and frankly, don't have a chance. Those lies penetrate our hearts with fear and inadequacy and don't have to be true for them to be effective in our hearts and lives. They are vicious, subtle, and virtually omnipresent--but they're not all there is.
      There is more. There is truth. There is the supernatural truth that crushes the superficial lies. You are the apple of God's eye (Psalm 17:8). You are knit together for a purpose (Psalm139:13). You are delighted in and sung over (Zephaniah 3:17). This standard is not based on what your looks are, where you've been or where you're going-its based on the opinion of the one who made you, calls you His own. He looks at your ransomed heart and loves it. He loved you when you were His enemy. Even if you, dear reader, never know Him, He loves you. He died for you, calls out to you to know His love, not to change, to work for an unattainable goal; but to accept His unconditional love. This day, know you are loved and let this truth seep into your soul--there could never be a more beautiful you.