I woke up about a few months ago and noticed some crazy lines on my face. ”Ugh, not those!” was my instant reaction. Since I was 30, I’ve had to cover my pre-mature gray hair, a couple years ago I had to get bifocals, and now that 40 is right around the corner, the wrinkles around my eyes are NOW wanting to remind me??! Seriously?! You don’t have to show me more! I get the picture!!
Now, I know I’m not the only person out there that has had just a slight feeling of how I felt. Lets take it a bit further…’beauty.’ Aren’t MOST women afraid of losing their body they had in their 20’s? Yes- you know what I’m talking about…the body you didn’t appreciate at the time and was wishing you had your teenage body back…yeah it’s that body! We always seem to “want” what we don’t have yet when in reflection, we realized we had it good!
I think I might break these blogs on “Beauty” down into several different ones. There’s so many areas of it, I just can’t get it all on one – I’m thinking you are on limiting reading times like me.
Women think differently than men…we tend to put ‘beauty’ and ‘appearance’ in one box and call them almost equal. Women are afraid of losing love: afraid God will reject us if we overvalue our appearance, and we’re afraid others (society) will reject us if we don’t value it enough. John 15:4,9 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me… As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” What this says is Jesus has us! Unconditionally loves us! He does NOT give requirements of NO wrinkles, NO gray hair, or NO blemishes before He offers His love. Nor does he require us to have the perfect clothes or painted nails! Now who’s love can you always be sure is there – unconditionally there? Our Savior!!! It’s not the same love that society has taught you though! Society sadly puts way too much focus of the appearance on the outside-the name brand clothes you wear, manicures & pedicures, cars you drive, or houses you live in.
His love flows in us. And when they flow in us, others see it in our actions and efforts…but most of all in the way we carry ourselves!! What they see is love of life…and the beauty behind it all is the by-product of our natural efforts when we have Christ as our true love. Our worry lines will start to go away and our chin no longer drags the floor! We stop turning to the refrigerator for comfort and stop seeking material things to fill the void. Our faces will glow with peace and will be so much more alluring than what any cosmetic product can produce.
I love how one author put it, “Any desire of our hearts – even the desire to be physically beautiful-is an invitation for God to reveal Himself to us. By bringing this desire to God, we are moving beauty out of the shadows (and out of “society’s beauty) and into the light. We can trust that God will teach us in this journey to root deeply down into His Love.”
Food for Thought:
1) Have you ever asked God to reveal to you the true source of beauty?
2) Do you think that maybe God is using your deep desire for ‘beauty’ to teach you about His constant, unconditionally love and affection He so longs for you to see?
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