Be Beautiful

Beautiful (Dictionary.com) Definition: Having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc; delighting the senses or mind.

When most of us think of a beautiful woman we probably get some sort of warped Hollywood picture that almost no-one can reach. . . is this a biblical picture of beauty? Of course not. If we all tried to reach this, our lives would be totally consumed with the perfect diet and exercise programs, all the right anti-aging creams, etc, etc, etc. And when we let ourselves become consumed with our appearance, we begin to worship the god of physical beauty.

The bible says little to nothing about most of these things. It does however talk about beauty, and what biblical beauty should look like.

1 Peter 3:3-4 says: " Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."

We all know that we were made in the image of God. (So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.) And that when God saw what he had made it was "very good" in His eyes. (And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good...) That means that we are all beautifully made in Gods eyes. Because he doesn't make mistakes, we were all made exactly how He intended!

The bible also says, though, that "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7) And I think for many girls/woman, just the fact that a man doesn't see our features as beautiful is discouraging. Woman were designed to want to be loved, and to be pretty (in a mans eyes). But, God is not the only one who will see virtue and true beauty. Some of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood have been married at least 2-3 times. Why? Why, after such a short time of marriage did there husband divorce them? Because their inside man (woman) came out, and it was much uglier than their 'beautiful' physical appearance. Ultimately they did not fill the space God designed them to fill and so their physical appearance no longer mattered to their husbands. Their heart is then what mattered.

On the other end, I have seen woman who do not fit into the Hollywood mold of beauty, but have been married for 10, 20, and 50+ years to a man who is more in love with them at present then the day they were married. Why? Because their inside man shines brighter than their physical appearance. They are virtuous. They are rare and worth far above rubies!

So why are we spending so much time in front of the mirror, in an attempt to make ourselves more beautiful? Why are we trying to fit into an unrealistic hollywood mold.

The sin in our lives is what is so ugly. Not our physical appearance.

This does not mean, however that we do not ever need to make sure we look presentable and or attractive. It only means that being beautiful does NOT start on the outside. It start in our hearts. (For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves. . . - 1 Peter 3:5)

A good friend once told me that doing the right things for the wrong reasons does not mean we should stop doing those things. It means we need to change our reasons. We should still strive to dress beautifully, do our hair nice, etc. We just need to strive to do it for the right reasons.

Summary: We need to stop waisting time wishing we were beautiful, and BE BEAUTIFUL!

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. ~ Proverbs 31:30