Dear Younger Me,

• 

If I could write a letter to my younger self, there are words I would’ve said before the damage was done. 

“Your life is worth so much more than your search for perfection.” 

“Nothing is wrong with you.”

Oh, how I long to etch into my bones that a health obsession isn’t healthy at all. That though growing up is scary, it isn’t worth the cost of thinking you’re nothing but a hollow shell. I wish I could tell my younger self, “Stop these habits before it is too late, and you’ve caused permanent damage.”

Because if I could speak truth into that little girl’s life, I would in a heartbeat. But since that little girl is now grown, I do equally believe that it is my responsibility to write “Dear Younger You,” with the hopes of encouragement.

To shout to your mountaintops that with Jesus, you will make it through this. To not grow up so quickly, for when you reach young adulthood, you realize it isn’t all it was built up to be. That your face in the mirror is worth a far greater value than the acne, imperfections, and flaws, you strip it down to. 

I would remind you that your value as a daughter or son of the King is not measured by the mistakes you’ve made, sins you possess, or qualities you wish you could change, but immeasurably the creation He sees you as and has crafted you to be. God sees us for who He says we are, and not what the world tells us we should be. 

Romans 8:1 speaks that Life in the Spirit is a new type of living. And when you have Jesus, there is little room for anything else. No doubt, excuse, or fear of the past, present, or future weighing you down. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” and that remains true yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Romans 8:1, ESV). 

Dear Younger Me, you may be but a memory, but Dear Future Me, don’t forget the girl you’ve fought to become. Forgive, Embrace, Love, and Live. There is no need to dwell backward when He’s calling us forward to colossal and bigger things. 

Agape, Amber