Beauty Inside Out
Oh the joys of being chic and glamorous! To walk into a room and bam! silence, all eyes on you including the sisters! You are elegantly and fashionably dressed from head to toe exuding the most wonderful designer scent. Before you know it every man in the room is racing forward to offer you a chair. You smile shyly and say a polite thank you and sit. Everyone is staring at you and admiring you from a distance. The women silently seethe with envy and wonder how you pull it off so effortlessly…. Ladies don’t we all have this dream? I know I have…
Being a new writer for Yakuti and specifically writing on fashion and beauty made me realize how physical beauty is so important to us women and it’s almost becoming an obsession. As I was praying and researching for this article I came across so many articles, clips and blogs all talking about beauty secrets and tips, the quest for having the perfect skin, body and clothes is at an all time high and it’s not only with the celebrities, it’s a craze with almost every woman. It’s funny how the world dictates what we should wear, look and eat and how we try so hard to conform to it. But, I ask, what about inner beauty? Especially in today’s world where image is everything! What happens when the physical beauty fades (which will indeed fade)? What remains? What does God, our Creator say about outward appearance?
In 1 Samuel 16:7 The Lord said to Samuel ,’’Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’’ It’s interesting to note that even in those days people still judged others by their outward appearance it’s not just today. God does not judge on outward appearances, He looks at the heart. We as human beings tend to judge others by their outward appearance forgetting that we are all created in His image and we are all special and precious to Him.
So what is beauty? In 1 Peter 3:4 the bible says Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as the braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead it should be that of your innerself, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in Gods sight. This sounds hard but ladies hear that … the unfading beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit…this does not fade away like our physical beauty and this is what as Christian ladies we should emulate because the bible says that this is of great worth in Gods sight! Have you ever come across those women who are flawlessly beautiful but with such a mean spirit and you ask yourself, how do they sleep at night? You suddenly don’t notice their physical beauty anymore, you actually pray for them. You know as women we often forget that our inner beauty reflects everything we do. The verse above says that our beauty should come from our innerselves.
In Proverbs 31:30 says Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. This is a very powerful verse for us women, we are told that our beauty is temporary, it’s such a harsh reality. You know sometimes we spend so much on our looks only to realize it’s in passing and it will eventually fade out! It’s even written in the bible …beauty is fleeting… When we grow old and frail, what will we remain with? Seriously think about it…. That’s why we must cultivate our inner beauty. The bible continues to say …but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised!
Ladies, we are beautiful! God created us and He saw it was good! The God who created the sunset and the sunrise, the beautiful islands and mountains, the exotic plants and animals, yes that same God created you and He looked at you and said it is good! And not only that, we are created in His own image! In Genesis 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female he created them. What an awesome reality that is, there we are on the first chapter of the Bible distinguished from animals and our male counterparts and literally created in the image of God certainly womanhood was no afterthought with God. Can I hear an Amen? Already we are made in His likeness and He saw it was good! Remember what we are told ‘God did not make junk!’
So my dear ladies let not the world dictate to you how you should look like or how much you should weigh because in Psalms 139:14 the bible says I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderful made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. You should know too fully well that you are fearfully and wonderfully made! And also remember in the beginning you are created in God’s image!
In conclusion, I am not saying that we should not make ourselves look good and that we should let ourselves go and not care about our physical appearance, no, all I am saying is let us invest in the beauty that never fades and remember at the end of the day what is on the inside will always come out! Remember in Matthew 23:26 ‘’First clean the inside of the cup and dish and then the outside also will be cleaned’’.
You are beautiful!
Happy Valentines Day.
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lovely article Makena. Very insightful and eye opening!