The Beauty Within

What is beauty? Well the definition for the word beauty means: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). The word within means: in or into the interior or inner part; inside. The Greek meaning of beauty is: "being of one's hour". A ripe fruit (of its time) was considered beautiful, whereas a young woman trying to appear older or an older woman trying to appear younger would not be considered beautiful. So many times as women or young ladies, we depend on what we are wearing, how our make up looks, the size of the clothes we wear or how much we weigh. The world in general wants us to believe that if we are not thin and properly dressed, then we can not be beautiful.

 

I myself have struggled with this same issue most of my life. As a matter of fact, God is trying to heal me of that as I write this and that is why it is being written. For people like us to heal from what the world tells us we should look like on the outside, or who we should be in our life.  When I was a young girl I spent most of my childhood trying to look older. As I got older I spent most of my time trying to look younger. Is it important to stay healthy? Yes. Healthy is much different then being thin. There are many thin people who are not healthy. There are also a lot of thin people who go through insecurities about their appearances. I believe the true story of us all is not that we so much dislike ourselves just for the way we look. I think some times when we look in the mirror and see a reflection of ourselves we often wonder, what can be so beautiful about me?  So I believe our insecurities come more from within our hearts and our minds instead of what we see in the mirror. We as people, not just women or men, young or old but as people need to ask God to show us how He sees us.

 

Allow ourselves to be seen through the eyes of God. So what does God see when He looks at us? Well here is what the scriptures say about the way God sees beauty. 1 Peter 3-4 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, 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. So in the eyes of God we are beautiful. So how then can we begin to allow the beauty to be seen in our own eyes? It begins with asking God to open your eyes to be able to see through His eyes. Praying daily that God shows you who you are in Him. That in itself is a hard task for me to do also.  Before I began writing this letter I had to pray and ask God to reveal to me who I am in Him. So I had the confidence to say this out loud and in writing to others. God told me that despite what I see with my own eyes, that my body is just a shell. God says in Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and approved of you. That's not just true for Jeremiah, but for us all. Before the foundation of the world He knew us by name. What a beautiful example of His redeeming grace. Of course I need to take care of my shell (my body) but ultimately He has chosen me to do the things He has called me to do because I chose to serve Him. Although I will never be perfect in every thing I do, God still chose me. He has chosen you also. How many times as women we believe that as long as we stay thin for our husbands, then they will stay with us forever and always love us?

 

Men have also gone through those types of feelings. We need to understand that it does not work that way. We as women alone need to allow God to show us how our true beauty lies in Him.  We need to understand, that although we don’t realize it, out little girls and young women are watching us and listening to what we say. Do we really want them to grow up believing the same lies we have? We can show them, that their beauty lies within their hearts. God is the creator of master pieces not mistakes. This world and society is getting worse everyday when it comes to telling us what beautiful is. So we so strongly need to be confident in Christ to show our young women and men differently.

 

He chose to love me. He told me that my beauty comes not from my reflection, but from He that is in me. When we pray, we are beautiful to Him, when we worship, we are beautiful to Him. When we take the time to do what ever it is that He has called us to do, then we are beautiful to Him. When we are obedient to his word, we are beautiful to Him. We may all have a different calling and different gifts, but if those gifts are being used with the greatest of love and to glorify God, then we are beautiful to Him. God makes no mistakes. Jesus was created in the likeness of His father, and we too were created in the likeness of our Father. So if God is love and God is grace and God is beautiful, than what do you think you are?  Well I will tell you. You are beautiful in the eyes of the Most High God.  So the next time you look in the mirror, look at the beauty within yourself and say thank you Jesus for making me beautiful.