Illusion of Beauty

There's a lot I could say and talk about now, but much needs to be developed between God and me before I say anything about those, but there is one thing in particular God's calling me to share.

Lately I've been struck by the concept of beauty, in many different ways, but here I will focus on that of women. Looking around me, especially at school in the spring, I see the concept of beauty and its understanding of it so warped. It saddens me so much to see girls dressing the way and acting the way they do. Do they not realize how beautiful they are, and how the clothes they choose and their actions only tarnish that beauty? I heard recently that when you think someone ugly or unattractive, you are only insulting God's creation, and it's so true. If we can find beauty in everyday things, then how much more should we in everyday people, for God's incredibly beautiful design is revealed so much in people. This is why I've made it a mission of mine this year to tell the girls around me, even those I don't know well, how incredibly beautiful they are.

I had the chance of hearing one of my sisters in Christ pray this past week...and I haven't been moved by the beauty that comes from the heart in such a long time. She allowed Christ to break her as she prayed and she confessed her sins before her fellow sisters and before the Lord, and in that vulnerability, she displayed a beauty far beyond anything this world could display. It has been amazing to see her grow this year, but the most precious thing of it all is how much more beautiful she becomes every moment as she seeks after the Lord with all her heart. There is a beauty that can only be found in Christ alone, the beauty of the heart.

This afternoon I helped another friend of mine get ready for a formal she had. I love getting ready and especially getting friends ready for fancy events, for it's always so much fun to dress up and have the excuse to. My friend is absolutely gorgeous on the outside but she has had some wounds on the inside, that Christ is in time healing, but the scars remain. As I did her hair and makeup in the time of two hours, I saw her natural beauty being accentuated, yet I saw something more. I saw the little girl inside of her who is longing to be beautiful and be told she is beautiful, the innocent one pretending she is a princess and in turn is valued. The scars didn't exist in that world, for she hadn't been wounded. Yet in contrast now, she is one of those girls I talked about earlier.

In my Bible Study this past Monday, we talked about the first chapter of Song of Solomon, and it brought up something I hadn't noticed before. The beloved worked in the fields, so she was deeply tanned and strong. Well in that time, the concept of a beautiful woman was one that was fair-skinned and delicate. Yet she comes to her lover and tells him that this is who she is and the tan is part of her, and the lover delights in that beauty, once stating she is a lily among thorns. What would it be like if the girls and women in this world realized they were beautiful in the way God intended them to be and fully embraced it? What would it be like if they came before people and stated this is who I am and if you will love me, you must love me the way I was created?

So often we are narrow minded in our definitions of things, and I think beauty has been one for far too long. We need to look at it from a different angle; we need to look at it from God's. I encourage my sisters in Christ to love our fellow sisters and delight in their beauty, spurring one another on in Christ because that is where our ultimate beauty comes from. I encourage my brothers in Christ to make princesses out of the women around you, make them feel beautiful and show them this in the purest way. I think we will find our concept of beauty redefined.