Why Care About What the World Thinks?

The world has its standards, but that doesn't mean we have to live up to them. Our Creator created us in His own image, finding our beauty amidst the imperfections.

This is all so new to me, but I'm excited to get started and help you guys dive into some deep spiritual questions. If I had had the opportunity to read things like this as I was growing up, I'm sure it would have helped me out so much--or at least helped me think about things. So here we go.

Random Thoughts

I took a family vacation to Georgia a few weeks ago and it was a long drive since we live in Indiana. But that gave me a lot of time to think about random things while I was in the car. Here's something that I had written down in my notes on one of those days:

“Seeing the real world is like putting on a regular pair of glasses; you see all of the fine details and the harsh lines around everything. But if I were to put on glasses that put a filter on everything, I wouldn't see all of the blemishes or imperfections of this world. Seeing things with a filter is like when you're reading a book and you see the story playing out in your head, but you don't see the fine details; everything is beautified. How often do you picture the book characters to be unattractive or "not pretty?" In our heads and in our minds we create a story--something that tells us we need to be prettier and have less imperfections or that we need to be the hero. It's an alternate world where our thoughts get stuck until we are consumed by it."

I'm not sure where this thought came from, but it's something that I feel like we have become blind to. The world around us tells us that we need to become unblemished and beautiful by its standards... but you know what? We are all already unblemished. We are all already beautiful. Jesus died so that we would become clean. We were already beautiful in His eyes even while we were covered in sin. Why should you care what the world thinks of you when Jesus sees you as His prized possession? I know that question is easy to ask, but it's true.

I think what makes the answer to that question so difficult is the fact that we have to walk by faith and not by sight. It's hard to see your beauty through His eyes when people call you names or make comments about how you look. But our strength comes from the Lord. Although he may not be beside us, giving us hugs or telling us that it'll be alright, if you ask him for help, he will give it to you. When you are spending time with Him and making Him top priority in your life, you'll find that it is a lot easier to push aside the world's standards. Your identity should not come from the world, it should come from the One who is living in you.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 (NIV)