Skip to main content

True Beauty

Is true beauty what the world says is true beauty? Is true beauty being thin and flawless ( would be nice, though), having curves in the right places and having just the right amount of cleavage (I wish)? True beauty in the world's standards is a deception, a lie. Why? Because if you speak or ask anyone of the women that grace the covers of any of those magazines or billboards they would tell you that they are anything but perfect. It takes hours to look like that. There is a lot of photo shop going on...masking all of the flaws.
There are women all over the world who are altering their appearances, trying to attain a look. They are bleaching their skin, they are rounding out their eyes through surgery. They think that if they can just look a certain way,they can be accepted, affirmed. They believe that if they look a certain way that they will "feel" better about themselves. Yet, many of us know that this just ain't so.
True beauty does not come from with "out" but it comes from with 'in." Each of us look certainly different. If God had an idea of perfection, He would have created us to all look the same. But He sees beauty on a whole different level. He sees beauty from a "heart" perspective. He sees out hearts and He sees our motives. He sees our compassion as we help a friend or a neighbor. He sees us and sees true beauty as we care for our family, an aging/ailing parent. When we go out of our way for someone else, He sees true beauty. Beauty is not about how you look, but in what comes from inside of you.
Many of us know "beautiful" people. And yet, some of those people could use a dose of love and compassion. Because what comes out from within them isn't so nice and makes them ugly. And how many of you know people that at first glance don't look "beautiful", but as you get to know them they are truly THE beautiful people.
I pray that as you go about your week that you are reminded of this: You are the apple of God's eye. You are His princess, His child. You are the most precious thing in His life. His love for you has no strings and He adores you. There is nothing that He wouldn't do for you. Know that you are loved regardless of what you have done or where you have been.

Comments

  1. Great post! As a mom, I try to remind my children very often that they are made in His image, that they are royalty. God doesn't make junk! If children can learn this when they are young it'll be easier to deflect what the world throws at them. My husband and I laugh no, but when they were younger and in school, we use to "re-indoctrinate" them from their day. As a parent, we must affirm them always as to how important, loved and cherished they are. But we also have to affirm ourselves, too. Words are powerful. We can use them against ourselves, undermining what God is trying to build in us.

    This is such an important study to do today. It's relevant. I always tell the ladies in the studies I've done that what blesses them, blesses their entire family. When they are strong, their family, too, will be strong. That is a part of our legacy. Good stuff is on the horizon, my sister.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Married and Watching the "How to Be Single Life"

I don't know what I was thinking. Really! It was a moment of insanity or wanting a girls night or maybe wanting a good laugh. I can't tell you exactly what it was but I did it. I went to see "How to Be Single." I usually research any movie we watch as a family or that my kids want to watch. But I actually thought this movie would be a cross between "My Greek Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Notebook." I thought it would be clever and funny and silly. But what I got was raunchy, nasty, way too sexual and just plain not funny. There was no depth to any of the characters, they were either high, drunk, having a crisis or sleeping and kissing with someone. I sure pray that this generation isn't doing life like this. I didn't hear shock or disbelief in the crowd that I was in. I heard tons of laughter. I had every intention of walking out after the first scene which I was mortified at because I had invited. two. ladies. from. MY. CHURCH!!!! I thought ...

Deal With It

Dealing with the scary issues in our lives, well, it's just that....scary! I can attest that there have been many instances in my life where I would rather ignore major issues, struggles, worries, and fears for fear that it will not be pretty. Let's be honest, dealing with serious issues and wounds cause our hearts to race, forcing our minds to remember, in turn having the pain resurface. It was painful once, why  feel it again? Personally, when I had to deal with the abuse I experienced as a child, it was just plain bad. It was messy, physically, mentally and emotionally...not just for me but for those around me. There were a lot of tears...I call them "cleansing" tears. Many women have stuffed their emotions so far down that they can't remember exactly what, just that it was extremely painful. It's been 10, 15, 30 years and still the abandonment, abuse, neglect has not been dealt with by many of us. Because feeling it would make us remember and remembering ...

Stand

When you have tried it all....Stand! When you have cried and pleaded...Stand! When you have yelled and screamed...Stand! When you have prayed and feel like the heavens are like brass...Stand! Stand, immovable, firm, rooted in the truth. The truth that "this too shall pass." That one day you will look back and maybe even laugh at the situation you are now facing. A wonderful story that came to my attention is the story of the Women of Paradise Road. These were the wives of military officers, taken captive by the Japanese in Southeast Asia during WW II. These women were elite and came from affluent and influential heritage. But they were taken and separated from their husbands and children and brutalized, tortured, starved and deprived of civility. Yet somehow they made it. Two years of neglect and death and yet they made it. How? What was it that gave them the strength to endure, to persevere? What was that one thing that made them keep going? They didn't know when help wa...