It seems that every week there is a new makeup trend, a new haircut, or a new piece of clothing that you just have to have. You might be begging your mom or dad for money to make it happen so you can fit in with the kids at school. You want it because it’s the trending thing. It’s all over Instagram and TikTok. And it feels like the end of the world if you don’t have it. There’s so much pressure and heaviness to carrying that around with you.

You’re chasing what your friends and the media claim is cool or what is pretty to wear or look like. But I want you to pause. And truly reflect what God has called you to. Because you’ll discover a newfound freedom and “look” to emulate.

Cultural beauty is based on trends, measured by how much attention (especially male attention) we get, fueled by comparing ourselves to others and what we don’t have, and always moving. The goalposts are always moving farther and farther away, making achieving the ultimate goal completely impossible.

Well, it’s impossible by the world’s standards. When we take on God’s standards as outlined by scripture, we get standards that are based on identity, measured by our fruit, powered by integrity, and that are steady and timeless.

God created beauty. Just look at the flowers or a sunset. Artistry is all around us, ready to be witnessed, but so often we chalk up beauty to being a standard that is worldly. Attraction and beauty are not shallow things. The problem is that we’ve been conditioned and had our perspective twisted, so we don’t even know what is God-given and what is humanly manipulated.

Like all battles that we face, we must return to scripture to root ourselves in what God says about himself and about us. We hold that standard to what TV, movies, and social media say. And we compare. But we’re not comparing ourselves to what the world says. No. We’re comparing truth and lies, and we hold ourselves against the truth to secure our feelings in the only thing that doesn’t change.

Remember, beauty, attraction, lovely, and pretty things are not antithetical to what God’s design is; it’s the fulfillment of it. Where Instagram filters say, “Be flawless.” God says, “Be faithful.” When the boys and the popular friends say, “Be wanted.”

God says, “Be kind.” When competition says, “Be better than her.” God says, “Be secure.”

When we foster this beauty from within, it is considered “great worth” to God. It feels cliché to say that beauty comes from the inside, but that is what God values. Scripture tells us that beauty and things that are pleasing to God come from within us. That when we develop the character and heart posture of what we’re called to as Christian women, we are more fully aligned with who God is calling us to be.

So yes, we’re all called to beauty. But beauty by God's standards.