I love Song of Songs

Song of Songs 2:2: “Like a lily among brambles, so is my love among young women.”

This verse has been in my head for the past few weeks, and God has used it to open my eyes, to convict me, to encourage me, to hold me accountable, and to comfort me. Even just the image of a lily dwelling among brambles takes you by surprise- to see such delicate beauty residing in a harsh, dark, stifling environment. God has used this verse to encourage me in so many ways over the past few weeks. As a college student, I am constantly confronted with the reality of broken relationships and misplaced priorities. Many of the girls that I interact with on a regular basis form their entire identity and measurement of self-worth around guys’ opinions of them. The lengths they go to in order to gain a guys attention, even for just a second, is astounding! It affects the clothes they wear, the places they go, the conversations they have…but as a woman of God, I have been freed from that. How gracious our God is! My identity rests firmly in the love, glory, and holiness of my Savior. I do not need to seek the approval of man.
As women of God, we are called to be set apart- a lily among brambles. Girls who find their identity in the approval of the guys around them are so draining! Have you ever spent a lot of time with a girl like that? It is so discouraging. As women, we so often fail to encourage one another and lift each other up on a regular basis. We are often too insecure for that. Instead, we search for compliments and attention in order to feel loved.
But as women of God, we don’t need to do that! We can encourage one another genuinely, regularly, and from the heart. We don’t need to compete for attention or affection; our God loves each of us the same. He loves us just the way we are, the way He created us to be.
The culture around us encourages us to behave as brambles- to stifle each others’ beauty and produce a cold, harsh environment that will only prick and injure. But our God has called us to be lilies- delicate, resilient, pure, and beautiful. Lilies stand in stark contrast among a field of brambles and thorns.