True Beauty

 The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 

1 Samuel 16:7 

When is the last time someone got a good look at the inside of your heart? It's an interesting question because we are fickle beings and it depends on the day sometimes. If you were to look at my heart in the middle of the election season, you would have thought I was kind of ugly. However, after talking to God about it and having a heart cleaning session, my heart is looking cleaner again. Don't get too excited though, because after all, I am human, and I may think or say something you don't agree with or like and you may consider me "ugly" all over again. 

 Only God knows who we truly are inside, and He deals with us on a constant basis. People may hold our mistakes and ugly words or deeds against us, but when we go to God with a repentant heart, He loves us back to beauty again. He forgets how ugly we were just one minute ago. 

Unfortunately, people judge all of our "uglies".  Sometimes you can look righteous on the outside and be nasty on the inside. Perfectly put together on the outside, and quite ugly acting on the inside. We have a choice. And others have a choice too. Wouldn't it be nice if others would forgive our inner ugliness the way God does? Wouldn't it be nice if we did that for others too? Well, we can. It's a choice to see beauty where it isn't as easy to see and it's a choice to turn the ugliness over to God so he can help us turn it around. 

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 

1 Peter 3:3-4 

I have two daughters, so yes, I have talked and preached about inner beauty ad nauseum for years and years! But we also love to dress up and put on makeup here too! I follow a few fashion and beauty bloggers, as I'm now tipping into my fifth decade of life, and I'll be honest, aging does not sound like a fun party to me. I have a young spirit! I like to play, and sometimes I honestly forget how old I am, like that time I did a cartwheel and my entire right side did this burning ripping thing I will never forget! Ha Ha...thank you, years of gymnastics, where were you that day? My fear of getting old is that I won't be able to act like the child I think I still am. Ha Ha

Anyway, I've been learning all kinds of tips about what to wear and how to wear it to best accentuate or hide this or that, and I've been having some fun watching packages come to the front door as my new fashions arrive. (I'm smiling as I write this because it's just a hoot. Faux leather leggings. Can you imagine? With me, you won't have to!) I've been trying new anti-aging creams, serums, and taking collagen and vitamins. I use essential oils for hormone "flips" and "flops", and I'm working out 6 days a week. Aging and I are in quite the battle for my body, mind, muscles, skin, and attitude. When I see an ad for "aging gracefully" with pretty green leaves and a beautiful silver-haired lady, I honestly just laugh. That is not me. I am not graceful at all. I will go down fighting with every gray hair, wrinkle, and whatever else it hands me, but oh no, I will not be silent, at least not yet! When I see ladies in their 70's and 80's in the same skin care aisle with me picking out the same products, you can bet I won't give up! Ha Ha 

And I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn gray, and I will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety. 

Isaiah 46:4 

There is such hope in that verse. I hope I always feel like a child in the eyes of the Lord, no matter how old I get on this earth. I share all of this with you because while inner beauty is of course so much more valuable and important, it is also important to feel good on the outside too. It is fun to try new fashions as your body changes or the color of your hair becomes a color you never imagined. Life is meant to be enjoyed as we grow, and feeling both inner and outer beauty combined is a bonus. We are to inspire others and help them become the best version of themselves. That can only happen if you are becoming the best version of your own self too. 

So if people judge your outsides, who decides who is beautiful? It's the whole broken "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" concept. Here's some news. I'm no J-Lo, but if I had reconstructive surgery, a personal trainer, a personal chef, a makeup artist, hairdresser, and a whole host of other miracles, I could be J-Ro. (laughing out loud) Well, here's the receipt on that-and it is simple. God doesn't make junk. If we could see ourselves the way that God sees us, we would think we were looking at the most beautiful person we've ever seen. Isn't it much like the parent who sees her child and describes her as the most beautiful child in the world? Mine were, weren't yours? Yes, that's how God sees us. 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

Psalm 139:14 

The world has its own idea of what "beautiful" may be, but God already tells us that he created us in his image and that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made". It doesn't get any more beautiful than that. 

A beautiful person is one who radiates kindness, wisdom, joy, thankfulness, and contentment. Ever notice that? I can bet you can think of one person who you would consider beautiful just because of the way he or she lives his or her life. I think back to something my dad used to say to me when I had something ugly on the tip of my tongue. He'd say, "you might better say it as to think it." And he was right. I was just as ugly to think it as I would have been to say it. I used to argue with him about how that didn't make sense! It makes perfect sense. What we think in our hearts can easily show up on our "skin". As I have always said, beauty is as beauty does. 

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 

Romans 8:6 

Is it time to clean up what we have on our minds? Has it been ugly lately while our outsides have been busy with clothes, serums, makeup, and workouts? We can invest just as much if not more time cleaning up and polishing our hearts and lining them up with who God says we are, and I will guarantee you it will result in a wrinkle-free beautiful heart, mind, body, and soul. 100% guarantee! We just have to keep putting in the time and He will keep giving us what we need to grow in Him and reveal the true beauty He created us to be, inside and out. 

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. 

Proverbs 31:30 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes."

Luke 12:22-23