Being a father of three young daughters, I was immediately drawn to the strong message of Holly Starr's latest song, "Through My Father's Eyes," which is about encouraging self-confidence in girls. 

 

We were created and made in the image of God, and as so, I really connect with the lyrics: "I'm loving what I can see with His spirit alive in me, I'm finding beauty for the first time, Looking through my Father's eyes." Society puts pressure on all of us to conform and feel like we need to fit in. The Truth of the Bible is that we are told to "not conform to the patterns of this world."

 

I had the chance to interview Holly about "Through My Father's Eyes," her latest single from her newest album, Focus.

 

Please tell me the personal story behind the song.
 

I wrote "Through My Father's Eyes" after struggling with my own self-image for about five years.  It was one of the most difficult songs for me to write because I had to be so vulnerable in sharing about my past. The chorus is easier, because that's the message I always want to share about God bringing healing. Remembering the past isn't the most joyful thing to do. At the same time, it can be when you couple it with what God has done in your life. I had come to the end of a struggle with my body image and I felt like I was in an extremely dark place. I thought I'd never get out and felt really hopeless. I know that Satan was feeding those thoughts into my mind and I was believing them for a long time. 

 

I became so fearful of people's opinions of me and what I saw in the mirror every morning, that no matter what I did to try and escape it, I felt trapped. I cried out to God, and He is the One I knew was Healer, and the slow process of that healing began through Christ renewing and changing my mind. God's character is something I've known my whole life, and I've memorized in Sunday school. The rubber met the road, and I never thought I would need to ask for healing. Usually I was the Christian who would help my friends. It was very clear to me that I was the one with the problem and it wasn't going away. God put it on my heart to pray, and I knew He could heal me. During a year of prayer, my mind starting changing. The night and day difference, coming from darkness into Light. I believe that God's healing is real and true. I haven't reverted back since. It's an incredible feeling of restoration.

 

Genesis 1:27: "So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female he created them."

 

1 Peter 3:3-4: "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 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."

 

...and 1 Samuel 16:7: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"

 

What's the takeaway message for listeners regarding the song?
 

I hope both the song and video show people a tangible picture of the Hope they have through Christ, and how faith is so beautiful and worth the fight of perseverance. Our God is the God of Hope. There is nowhere we can be where He cannot reach. Whether it's body image, drugs, addictions, negative thoughts—there's nowhere you can be where it's completely hopeless.

At the cross God showed us this Truth—how much more should we believe it in everyday struggles? His love shows how He can make the impossible possible. If you believe that God is bigger than everything we can see, and that He's more powerful than anything you've experienced, then you know that God's grace can intervene in any situation in your life. I love this song, because I can say with all of my heart, all of my strength and all of my joy that God's healing is real. I have that 1st Peter passage posted on my mirror in my bathroom. I spent too much time worrying about image, and I've needed God's reminder that beauty is not the outward appearance, but from our hearts. If I was the most striking person on the planet but my heart was in shambles, then it would be meaningless. When I really think about it, I would much rather be a person of character who is respected and admired than someone who just looks good on the outside.

 

 

The song deals with Holly's personal experience of how God has shown her just how beautiful she really is to Him. Holly delivers that message of affirmation perfectly in her bridge where she proclaims—"He changed my life, I'm changing my mind,  He healed all that was broken inside, I'm loving what I can see with His spirit alive in me, I'm finding beauty for the first time, Looking through my Father's eyes." 

 

A challenge I've personally taken away from this song is that God put it on her heart to pray and she was obedient. She spent time in prayer to God in order to overcome this issue, and God healed her. That's available to all of us. Take whatever struggle you are dealing with, and lay it at the feet of Jesus.

 

Holly is speaking out against conforming to the pressures brought about by society but that she's saying to young girls: find your identity in God. Don't let the world tell you who you are. It doesn't matter what you look like, if you have Jesus inside. That's where we can find our true identities, in Him! Amen to that!

 

(You can watch the music video here.)