Beautiful

Beauty comes in all types of sizes, shapes, appearances and actions. 

Physical beauty fades with age.  Inner beauty can mature with age.  While we all try to look as nice as we can and strive to do so, it is the inner beauty that will prevail - now and over the long term.  1 Peter 3: 3-5 "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."  I'm not saying don't get your grays touched up because I did  that just yesterday.  I am saying there is a beauty which far exceeds any efforts we can make outwardly.  This is the beauty that should be our primary focus each day.   Not only is this the beauty we should focus on for ourselves personally, but we should seek to find it in others.  We train our eyes to look at someone's physical appearance.  God sees through physical appearance into a person's heart.  To God real beauty comes from who we are, not what we look like.  1 Samuel 16:7  " The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Our beauty should be based on our spirit and our behavior.  This is what God looks at.  This beauty trumps outward beauty always.  I have been with people who are pretty on the outside and then their words and actions gradually begin to erase anything beautiful outwardly.  I'm reminded of this when a man will seek out a beautiful woman for a wife/girlfriend.  He is so proud of his trophy.  Then with time the beauty begins to fade because the heart of this woman doesn't represent beauty at all.  People who marry for wealth or for physical beauty are often the most miserable people in their marriages. Right-thinking people value inner beauty above outward beauty. They know that appearance and wealth cannot guarantee happiness.  Proverbs 19:13  "a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof"  Proverbs 12:4  "A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.  Proverbs 21:19  "Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife."  I am sure you could find many men and women who fell victim to a woman's/man's outward appearance, however forgot to check the heart, spirit & behavior.  

How do we check ourselves & examine our own hearts so we represent God's beauty?  Proverbs 31:30 tells us "charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." 1 Timothy 3: 11 says we should be "worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything."  Titus 2: 3-5 says "to be reverent in the way we live."  I love Proverbs 14:1  "The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."  For me, the word house can also mean her life.  So many times we, through our behavior, can tear down our own houses and lives.  When my heart isn't where it needs to be (walking daily with the Lord), my spirit and actions don't always represent who God wants me to be.  As a result of this, my world begins falling down around me.  I have begun to tear down my house.  Then it takes a good dose of humility and time with the Lord for me to build it back up.  A couple of other verses include 1 Timothy 5:10 "and (she) is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the Lord’s people, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds."  Proverbs 31: 25-26  " She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. "  Proverbs 31:20  " She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy."  There is a measure of your worth that is different from the world's assessment, and that is in the eyes of God.  Seek His approval...Seek Him!