I have had a discussion with multiple people regarding how Satan was supposedly the most beautiful of all of God’s creation…and Christ had no beauty or grace that would attract you to him…
So…where does that put beauty? Is it a blessing or a curse? Is it a desirable quality? Is it attainable by everyone?
As a young child you learn that there are beautiful people…and then there are those with winning personalities, great intellect, inhuman athletic ability – it’s just too overwhelming to think that beautiful people have been blessed with more than just beauty as a gift, or that so-called unattractive people wouldn’t have some skill or talent.
It just isn’t enough to recognize that we have been created, exactly as we are, by our creator God who loves us and invites us to love him as well. We somehow want more. In talking with the other women here, beauty has been redefined for a lot of us this year. I wrote a blog a while ago about how heinous I tried to make myself look, growing out the leg and armpit hair, dreading my hair, putting in the nose ring, letting the eyebrows do what nature intended for them…what did I find? I was more radiant with Christ’s love and beauty and grace than I had ever been before. I saved so much time in the shower…and I could say that that gave me more time to spend with God and so that’s where the difference happened…but that’s a lie, I don’t really shower on the race. I mean, it happens, but when you only have a few clothes, you don’t see the point of putting your clean body back in dirty clothes…I digress…I recognized my reliance upon my external for beauty. And if that is the case, I will never be satisfied. There will always be someone thinner, taller, more attractive, cuter, funnier (well maybe not…sorry Mom, still got a little bit of those pride issues), smarter…the list goes on. Those wishy-washy pre-teen speakers always put out that same crap about “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” “beauty is only skin-deep” “blah blah blah.” But what if what is inside is far uglier than anything on the outside? What if it’s not something you want others to see? What do you tell those girls?
Read Song of Songs…as the bride of Christ we are pursued by our bridegroom. He sees us as beautiful…why can’t we?
Well because Satan is the king of this world that we live in and he knows the proverbial groin of our self-worth…and he loves to knee us right where it hurts. Our belief that we are beautiful, that we are worthy, that anyone could love us. If I had a nickel for every time that Satan whispered in my ear something that led me to doubt my own God-created beauty…well let’s just say I wouldn’t have needed to send out support letters…
Beauty isn’t defined by the make-up you slather on, the clothes you wear, the way you wear your hair…but you are a steward of the body and beauty that God created. I recognized that fact this past month. I am not called to emulate Scarlett Johannson or look to Cosmo magazine for what is currently defined by our pop culture as beautiful. I am a beautiful and unique creation, I was created to love God and love others, and it is that love that makes me beautiful. It is Christ’s light that shines through me…that is beauty! As a steward of this love and beauty I want to reflect that light in the best way possible. God didn’t create us to be the homely, hidden version of ourselves. There is beauty in everything. I can look at mountains and see beauty, and yet I can look at a flat field full of daisies and also appreciate the beauty. I can look at a small creek and see beauty, I stare out at the ocean and without the ability to fathom its depths, I marvel at its beauty. How much more does our creator look on us and see beauty? These beautiful things don’t all look the same…so why do we think that we all have to look one certain way to be beautiful? Thanks for that Satan.
You are beautiful. I am beautiful. You and I were created as a thing of beauty. I now recognize the importance of embracing beauty. I have always been the kind of girl that just rolls out of bed and deals with it, there were times when I put time and energy into my appearance, but I mostly thought it was an uncomfortable waste of time. I have since come to realize that it can bring God glory to display and highlight the beauty He created. In response to these revelations, I brushed out the dreads…then I cut my hair…I also shaved the pits, changed the nose ring back to a stud…
It’s not because of anything but embracing the beauty the Lord has given me, walking in his beauty, his glory. It is not what I wear that makes me beautiful, I wear what I do because I am beautiful and want to bring God the most glory. I am not defined by what I wear, I am not less beautiful in gym clothes or sweats, I am not dishonoring God by being comfortable, that isn’t what I am saying. I am mostly saying that I have come to terms with the idea of accentuating the beauty God has created.
