Do You Think You Are Beautiful?

Recently I read “only 4 percent of women worldwide find themselves attractive.” I believe it’s because our culture fixates on the exterior, and therefore defines beautiful as a bronzed, toned body with white teeth, full lips and long, voluminous eyelashes. To be honest, if I’m focusing on my outer appearance, it’s difficult to believe I’m beautiful!

I’m not suggesting we ignore style and exterior beauty. I eat healthy, exercise, color my hair, and wear jewelry and make-up! But we must beware! When we believe our culture’s definition of beauty, we end up with a bag full of illusions.  

Beauty was marred when sin entered the world. God made Adam and Eve, in His image. They were beautiful! After they ate from the tree of knowledge, forbidden by God, they hid from God and no longer felt beautiful. Instead, they felt shame, guilt, and condemnation--ageless beauty stealers. So they covered themselves with fig leaves.

We also cover ourselves.

We apply worldly beauty techniques through striving for personal success and others’ approval, by bringing attention to our outward appearance.  But all cover-ups fail. They’re unable to touch and beautify the deep places in our heart. Those places need cleansing from jealousy, pride, resentment and other ugly blemishes. Those places need healing for emotional wounds.

God sees our dilemma. No matter how extensive our self improvements, we still feel we don’t pass the beauty test. So God pursues us. He goes after the hidden defects, blemishes and flaws. He offers a total make-over that starts within our heart.

 Have you noticed? Beauty costs a high price!

To beautify you and me, it cost God His Son, Jesus. Flawless and perfect, He stumbled down the dirty, dusty road to Calvary, and paid His blood, shed on the cross-- the highest price ever paid for beauty. He chose the only pathway that beautifies us.

“Jesus became [our] sin so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).Righteous means to be approved, virtuous, faultless and accepted. To say, “I've been made righteous” is another way of saying, “I’m forgiven! I’m faultless! I’m blameless!  I’m beautiful!” (Colossians 1:23)

Embracing Jesus’ blood sacrifice begins the reconstruction work in our heart and we reflect God’s glory! Is there anything more beautiful than that? 

If you are a child of God, I encourage you to appraise your beauty through God’s eyes. The Author of beauty describes you. Loved. Chosen, Treasured. Royal. (1 Peter 2:9)

Psalm 139:14 says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them they would outnumber the grains of sand.” Imagine…if you scooped up all the sand granules upon every oceans’ seashore, God’s precious thoughts of you would outnumber all of them!

Let me encourage you to esteem how beautiful you are in Christ. You are His masterpiece, (Ephesians 2:10). In Him, you are forever beautiful.