Our team
sat in a circle, each of us being vulnerable with one another. We listed our weaknesses, our
struggles, and the messy parts of our lives. We also told of our strengths and victories over past
struggles. I began to share my
outstanding list of struggles with sin.
As I began
my list, one of my struggles stuck out to me that before now I had never really
noticed it as a weakness.
Insecurities:
Some days I feel fat.
Some days I push myself to work out or eat better because I
do not want others to think I am overweight.
Some days I feel I am not beautiful unless I
put on make up.
Some days I compare myself to other girls and feel like I
don’t match up.
Every girl desires to be beautiful. Every girl desires to be desired
(hopefully you desire that to be only your husband).
When did my idea and so
many other girls’ ideas of beauty become so skewed?
A
lot of times I have put my definition of beauty in…
Whether or not my
hair cooperated that day
Or
My make up came out
okay
Or
I had no blemishes
or pimples to cover up
Or
I received a
compliment
Or
I lost
a few pounds
Or
I had
a cute outfit to wear
Or
Some guy paid me
attention or flirted with me
And many of us strive for this perfected beauty.
Isn’t that why I spend so much money on new make up, new
clothes, new diets, and new hair styles?
Isn’t that why I spend so much time on painting my face,
looking in the mirror, working out, and picking out the perfect outfit?
We act as if beauty is something that changes. As if one day you can wake up pretty
and the next day ugly. As if one
day you are deserving of attention and the next you are not worth a second
glance.
This is what God says
about beautiful women:
“Charm is
deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, shall be
praised.”
Proverbs
31:30
“Do not let your
adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on
fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the
incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in
the sight of God.”
1 Peter
3:3-4
“I will praise you, for I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are your works, and that my Soul
knows very well.”
Psalm 139:14
How did we
miss out on God’s definition of beauty?
Real beauty
is beauty of the heart that overflows from our relationship with Him. He says that outward appearances fade,
but true beauty rooted in who I am in Christ is everlasting. Not only that, but
it shall be praised.
So after
realizing all this–I have decided to not wear make up anymore for a
while. I am ridding myself of a
security blanket so that I can see the beauty that God sees in me.
I do not want to miss out on
seeing my inward beauty in Christ, because I am wrapped up in improving my
outward beauty.
Remember that your true beauty lies
in who you are in Christ. If
anything else begins to define your beauty, then you need to begin to ask
yourself what security have you put in place of Christ?
