While I am  all about self-confidence and promoting feeling good about ourselves, I was brought to my knees this week by a harsh truth I have never seen before. There are many popular books and magazines, and I am even guilty of teaching this, that encourage us as young women to realize our beauty and value that we have. It is so true that we are new creations IN CHRIST when we are saved, but I would dare say most of us miss the IN CHRIST part. I was so humbled to think: If any one of us thinks we have something to offer anyone, we are relying on our own strength. The Bible says that all of our works are as filthy rags. We are absolutely nothing alone. The only thing we have that could possibly make us beautiful is God shining through us. In order for God’s glory to radiate out of us, we have to die to ourselves. Sometimes it is easy to say we are humble and meek and seeking God and surrendering our life to Him, but are we really? Do we secretly think we have some unique and cool skills. We are prettier than the other girls in our class, smarter, more athletic or have a better wardrobe so that makes us more desirable? I think we all have some level of pride. We all want to be the best and we want to be recognized for our unique talents and abilities. This is all selfishness. If we are truly seeking God, what we should want is for Christ to be recognized in us. Instead of someone saying, “Wow, you are always so bubbly and smiling,” and us taking the credit for it, we should realize it is God who is shining through. Everything we do should be to bring people closer to knowing the God who is in us. Just think about it for a second. If we all did this th world would be so different. Why do we compete with each other? Because we want to prove we are the best, of course. What if the real competition was who could bring more of God’s glory to earth?