By: Kelsey Stanfill, a high senior and wise beyond her years. I asked Kelsey to write a post for me about something teens are facing and what she produced blew my mind. Don’t miss her post today!
As a high school student, I’ve seen a lot of people do a lot of crazy things. And though it appears that all they’re doing is being kids and having fun, I know that deep down all they want is to do is feel accepted. We all struggle with it. Whether it’s comparing ourselves to the pretty girl with the perfect bod, or trying to be the popular athletic boy who always seems to get it right. I’ve seen the need to feel loved and accepted push people over the edge.
I’ve watched so many girls I know go from being a sweet Jesus loving girls to girls who don’t think they are worthy of anything more than a booty call. They went from being a happy go lucky girl to someone who gets high before school just so they can numb the pain. The problem is that they believe the lie that they have gone too far to be forgiven, and from what I’ve seen, this is a trend. So many girls believe that what they have done is far beyond God’s ocean of Grace.
Not only have I seen my peers struggle, but I’ve struggled with feeling like I don’t belong too. I remember in 5th grade I was 5’7 and taller than most of my teachers. All of the boys were shorter than me so you can imagine why I never wanted to go to any of the school dances. Unfortunately I told myself I wasn’t good enough in everything I did, it didn’t stop at my height. I compared myself to almost every girl that I saw, believing I wasn’t pretty enough. When I played basketball I would base my self- worth on whatever my coach would say to me. At school I didn’t want to draw attention to myself because I felt like they wouldn’t like me if they really knew me. I told myself all kinds of lies.
In high school Satan’s main goal is to tell us that we’re not good enough and that God cannot forgive our dirty sins. He tells us that that we have to change the way we look, talk, act, and dress so we can be accepted and loved. We have different masks that we wear around different groups of people. The school mask, the dating mask, the family mask, the friends mask, and yes even the church mask. When someone says “just be yourself,” it seems like an easy thing to do but actually half of us don’t even know how to be ourselves because we’re told that being ourselves just doesn’t cut it.
God has shown me that what I believe about myself is a lie but who HE says I am is Truth. And He says I am loved, forgiven, alive, precious, beautiful, and His! I encourage you to forget about what you believe about yourself or who you think you have to be for a little bit and listen to who GOD says YOU are, because He does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7)
God tells the truth! The Enemy tells lies. Satan will try to keep you down and he’ll succeed unless you give your pain to God and let Him heal in the way only He can by taking your heart and making you whole. “And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
Sally - Kelsey, this is amazing – so thankful for the Truth you have heard and received! You ARE beautiful and loved and precious and His – what a blessing for me to read and a prayer I will pray my own daughter will not only hear, but receive and LIVE out of. So thankful for you!
Kaleigh - My younger sister’s name is Kelsey so all the Kelseys of the world hold a special place in my heart. I’ve only been out of high school three years, but it’s easy to forget what my life was like then. How quick we are to say that yes, high school might be a challenge, but gear up for nothing less challenging in the years after. I don’t think that’s fair. There’s a learning curve and high school, relatively speaking, is so much harder than we remember. Thanks for reminding us all of that.
how much house can i afford - i love your blog, i have it in my rss reader and always like new things coming up from it.