Pointing out someone’s flaws so I can feel better about my own? Who me? 

I’m ashamed to admit it, but that’s how I spent a lot of my early years. Watching other girls, looking at them, measuring myself against what I thought I saw. And, instead of celebrating the good and lifting up my fellow sisters, I would put them down, behind their backs a lot of the time, and the rest of the time to their faces. 

I’m not proud of it. I’m not proud of the cutting remarks or the glaring glances I’d give to girls who were feeling the same was I was: insecure about their bodies, confused about their feelings, and mistaken about their value. 

Today is no different; this war continues to wage, leaving behind serious destruction. It turns our attention away from what’s real. Our flaws make us who we are, and they aren’t flaws. What we see as ugly and weird God sees as exactly what he wanted us to be. He created us the way He wanted, and it was no accident. These self-proclaimed "flaws" are what make us real and human, and showing grace instead of guilt, and joy instead of judgment, is how we can help the next generation discover that being honest and loving when we speak to others is born out of being honest with ourselves about who we are in Him. 

Let’s go to battle against being mean, against hateful comments and the dark thoughts.

Let's battle, and then, let's win.