I don’t like myself in photos. It always comes as a shock when I see myself as others see me. I find myself thinking, do I really look like that? Does everyone see that double chin? What made me think that outfit looked good on me?

Why is my eye so critical? I have grown accustomed to the me I see everyday in the mirror, but somehow a photograph captures me at a different angle or from a different distance…without my stomach sucked in. The photo I see of myself doesn’t quite sync with what my brain wants to see: grace, beauty, youth. Oh, and don’t forget skinny. Am I that vain?

According to Urban Dictionary, a vain person “cares a lot about themselves.” Merriam-Webster offers an alternative definition: “having no real value.” The gap between these two definitions adequately describes my thought process, as I go from thinking too highly of myself to feeling absolutely worthless. But if I don’t look good in a photo, does that mean that I am worthless? Are my looks the sum total of who I am?

When I think these thoughts, I need a reminder of what the Bible tells me—that I don’t find value in how I look, but in who I am in the eyes of God. As I’ve come to find, our looks don’t tell our stories. Even our actions don’t tell our stories. Only our Heavenly Father can see our hearts.

In Genesis 16:13, Hagar, an Egyptian maid, describes God as “El Roi,” or “the one who sees us”. God sees all those things that we have hidden deep inside and still loves us. He doesn’t care if we have three chins; he sees us from all angles and still loves us. We are his beloved, and he sent his son to die for us. The reminder of that kind of sacrifice, as a father’s heart for his children, is proof of our worth.

If you are tempted to find your value in something other than the heart of God today, draw close to him with these four verses:

1. Colossians 3:12 (GNTD)
   You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
2. 1 John 3:1 (GNTD)
   See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children—and so, in fact, we are. This why the world does not know us: it has not known God.
3. 1 John 4:9-10 (GNTD)
   And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. That is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.
4. Psalm 117:2 (GNTD)
   His love for us is strong, and his faithfulness is eternal. Praise the Lord!