My letter to any teenage girl in this big world

Girls. And yes, I mean, girls. Teenage girls. Anyone from twelve to eighteen years old. Please read what I have to say with open minds, open hearts, and open souls. I my teenage girlhood is slowly coming to a close. And in just a few short months, I will legally be an adult. So I have most likely experienced/ am experiencing very similar events to you. PLEASE LISTEN TO ME. Dear Girl, Beautiful daughter of God, I want you right now, wherever you are, however old you are, to smile. Yes, listen to some random website, smile! Smile because there is a God who LOVES you. He loves you so much, He sent His son, His only Son, to die for you. Crazy, right? You are now at an age where most likely, a boy has told you he loves you. You might be like me, naïve, and believe him. And soon, he changes his mind. And where does that leave you? Heartbroken, left alone to pick up the pieces. Then a different boy comes along to "help" you pick up those pieces, and then the process just starts itself over again. And by the time you're an adult, you can't love. Because no one has ever told you about true love. And no, not true loves like in the movies. I hate to break it to you, but those specific loves, don't exist. True love I'm talking about is God's love. The chorus to my favorite song, "More" by Matthew West, gives us a small taste of God's love, TRUE, actual, everlasting love. "I love you more than the sun and the stars that I taught how to shine. You are MINE, and you shine for me too! I love you, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I'll say it again, and again! I love you MORE!" Oh, my dear sisters, if only we could all hear that song! God tells us that we are HIS. And God wants to be ours! If we solely focused on God, then boys would never be a problem. But, we are human, and we get off track. I know all to well what it is like to forget God over a boy. That is why we as girls need women leaders in our lives. Like how the Israelites needed judges. Whether it's your youth minister, a Godly celebrity, or even your sister, we all need role models! But when I say this, I don't mean for us girls to make our daily decisions based upon those women. We base those off of God. Boys will hurt you. That's just life. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Girls, if you only remember one verse from this letter, PLEASE let it be this one! Your heart is your most sacred and special organ. Literally everything you do comes from your heart! Your heart controls your life. The very second it stops, your life ends. Very rarely does it come back. Wouldn't you want to protect every aspect of something that literally gives you your life? (I'll have you note I am squished in a bathtub writing this due to tornado warnings) Anyway, your heart has different points of view, the two main ones being physical and emotional. We pretty much covered the physical viewpoint of the heart, let's move on to the emotional viewpoint. The heart is capable of doing what no other organ can: love. The heart controls all emotions, but love is the strongest emotion. Love will change and effect a person more than anger or bitterness could even imagine! 2 John 6 gives us the definition of love. "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love." The Greek have four distinct words for "love." 1.) Agápe, meaning a spiritual love, an everlasting love. This love is unchanging. God's love for us! 2.) Éros, meaning a sensual, physical love. Like between spouses. We'll talk about this one in a moment. 3.) Philia, meaning a mental love, like towards your friends around you. Again, to be continued. 4.) Storge, meaning a family love, like between a parent and child. Okay, éros, is your relationship love. Definitely where Proverbs 4:23 needs to come in! And passages like 1 Corinthians 13. This shows us how holy relationships should be built on. Another mini passage to look at is 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. And definitely books like Song of Solomon and Philippians. And, in certain bibles, just find reference pages in the back of your bible, find love, and start reading! Philia, makes me think so much of Philippians! Paul wrote Philippians to the church of Philippi while he was in prison. Prison! And the key words in Philippians are "joy," and "rejoice." He was in prison! And he was giving love to his fellow Christians in the Philippi church by saying "I hold you in my heart..." (V. 7) and "This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ." (V. 9-10) All of this is in chapter one of Philippians. He loved them that much! The final thing I want to talk about but don't know how to Segway into it is beauty. GIRLS. YOUR OUTER BEAUTY DOES NOT MATTER. WHAT MATTERS IS THE BEAUTY THAT IS IN YOUR HEART! 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, (in our times, things like makeup, cute clothes, body image, etc) such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothing. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." Please, REMEMBER THIS PASSAGE! Write it on your mirror, even get a tattoo of it! Just never, ever, forget this verse! That's all I have. Girl, whoever you are, always remember God has a plan for you. He made you special, and he loves you VERY much. Your sister in Christ, Abbey Philippians 1:7