Wednesday, June 3, 2015

what's the deal with selfies

Selfie.
A photo taken of yourself, typically with a smartphone and shared on social media.
Selfie. 
A modern day term for a self portrait.

In 2012 Time magazine declared “selfie” one of the top ten buzzwords of the year. Made its way into the dictionary in 2013.

I got my first smartphone in the summer of 2012. Held out as long as I could. It’s a handy little thing, but sometimes I feel like it’s a time waster, too.

But back to my topic…

If you’re on any social media, you’ve seen lots of em. I’ve taken a handful in the past, but I never post them because I always find some flaw or several in my appearance that keeps me from sharing it.
*thoughts go a little like this* I hate how my nose looks. Is it really that big? I think it’s getting bigger the older I get. Oh my gosh, look at that wrinkle. Ah geez, there’s another spot on my skin. My hair looks stupid. I swear it looks better in person than this pic shows. Ugh.

And on and on it goes.

Today I took a selfie and I’ll share it here. Unedited, no filter.

Guess what? 
Even at my worst, God still loves me. My husband and my family and my friends – they still love me. They don’t care if my hair’s a mess or if I have a zit. They love me... simply for me.

So I guess my point here is to say LOVE YOURSELF. Cuz everybody's got some awesome in them. 

Sunday one of the girls in my small group shared about how during the school year she made a decision to stop worrying about what other people thought about her. She said once she did it, she was happier.

I think anyone at any age can benefit from this advice.

Don’t you think we’d all find more joy in our lives if we stopped worrying about trying to be perfect? And maybe if we focused more on trying to please God instead of working so hard to please everyone else, don’t you think we’d be less stressed?

Besides, people are gonna think what they wanna think about you. We pretty much can’t change that.

There’s a song I hear on Christian radio by Jonny Diaz that has some great lyrics - I’ll share the chorus here.

     There could never be a more beautiful you
     Don't buy the lies, disguises and hoops they make you jump through
     You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
     So there could never be a more beautiful you

Listen to the song – it has a great message all the way through. More Beautiful You video with lyrics

And remember, you’re great the way you are. 
Love yourself the way your maker does! God doesn’t make junk, remember? ;-)