"Beautiful" by Mercy Me

This world can be a very cruel place.  Too many people feel that the only way they can build themselves up is to tear someone else down.  Many of us isolate our feelings from most others, only opening up to a few choice friends in whom we feel we can trust.  The greatest betrayals are when even those trusted friends thoughtlessly, or intentionally cause us the greatest emotional harm. 

It's hard to feel good about yourself when you get rejected.  You feel like if they don't value you for your looks, your mind, your personality, then why should you?  Because there is one that values you more than you could ever value yourself.  He thought you were worth so much that he suffered torture and gave his only life to make sure you would be safe for all eternity.  He is in heaven right now, right this instant, looking down on you, reaching out through the immensity of time and space to surround you with his own tender love.  To let you know that everything will be okay. 

To Him, you are beautiful, you are treasured, you are irreplaceable.  You are in the middle of a dark valley on your journey of life, but his loving arms await you in the warm sunshine.  If you look up to Him, He will send the sunshine to where you are and begin to heal your broken heart.

"Beautiful" by Mercy Me

Days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is you're not worth anything
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much

You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are made for so much more than all of this
You're beautiful
You're beautiful
You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His
You're beautiful

And praying that you have the heart to find
Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight
For all the lies you've held inside so long
And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

[Chorus]

Before you ever took a breath
Long before the world began
Of all the wonders He possessed
There was one more precious

Of all the earth and skies above
You're the one He madly loves enough to die

[Chorus]

"Only Hope" by Switchfoot and Mandy Moore

Hope has become a misunderstood word.  Nowadays, we say things like "I hope it's sunny today" to mean we have no idea if it will be sunny (and with our luck it probably won't be), but still, it would be nice if it was.  This isn't what hope used to mean.  Hope is a conviction that something is true.  It leaves no room for doubt; hope is the opposite of doubt.

The misunderstanding of the word hope illustrates the fact that many people today do not have much hope.  Agnosticism and moral ambiguity have left people uncertain what they should do and uncertain what the ultimate results of it will be.  We have been taught that there are only us humans and humans cannot be trusted.

What a benefit those people have who believe in a supreme power and objective morality.  Like the North Star sitting still in the heavens while the rest of the universe spins in circles, their belief and religion provides a clear path for their actions and strong hope for their eternal future.  Whatever may happen to them in this life -- friendships and relationships betrayed, sickness, financial failure -- they know for certain that it will all be okay.  They place their only hope in that conviction.

Scoffers who may criticize their supposed naiveté would do well to remember Pascal's famous wager: should the believer's hope be placed in reality they win an eternity of happiness.  They also get a lifetime of moral certainty which leads to a lifestyle of happiness.  Should they be wrong, they still keep the lifetime of peacefulness and then cease to exist at death. Not a bad bet.  Those who refuse to recognize an objective morality are much more likely to act in a way in life that will leave them unhappy, will lack the peace of mind of moral certainty, and risk eternal damnation for their actions.  Which do you think is the better bet: following the wisdom of an eternal being (or at least of collective humanity) or stumbling about in the dark on your own?

"Only Hope" by Switchfoot and Mandy Moore

There's a song that's inside of my soul.
It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again
I'm awake in the infinite cold.
But you sing to me over and over and over again.

So, I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.

Sing to me the song of the stars.
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again.
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again.

I give you my destiny.
I'm giving you all of me.
I want your symphony, singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs, I'm giving it back.

So I lay my head back down.
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours
I pray, to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope.