Beauty
“You are beautiful because I am beautiful, and you are of me.”
These are the words I heard from God the night I got saved.
Before being called beautiful by God, I never believed that I possessed the quality of beauty. The darkness inside my mind could not meet the standard of beauty in my eyes. My outward appearance could not meet the standard of beauty in my eyes. How could I believe I was beautiful when all I could see was darkness? I never liked how my mind worked because of my anxiety. I think too much, and dark thoughts cycle through those thoughts. I never was completely satisfied with my physical appearance because of the unrealistic standards of women’s bodies.
After hearing God call me beautiful and seeing His beauty, I wanted to understand what He meant. Instead of rejecting that statement like I would usually, I was curious. I have been looking into and will continue to look into what God claims beauty to be. Let’s look into his Word.
Peter speaks on women’s beauty in 1 Peter 3:3-4
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, 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.”
When I think about “inner beauty” and what society claims it to be, I think of the saying, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts.” Almost as if it’s ok to just be a good person. Now, I did believe that I was a kind human, that I was caring and loving towards others, but I was not that to myself. I was very hateful towards myself, so I never thought I had “inner beauty.”
When I look further in the text here in 1 Peter, what stands out to me is “gentle and quiet spirit” as God’s way of defining inner beauty. So, I had to look more into the Spirit that God has given us.
God sent the Spirit to be with us and to guide us: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever- the Spirit . . .”- John 14:16-17. The Spirit dwells in me, and the Spirit is God: “God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” So, if the Spirit is God, then the Spirit in us is beautiful and perfect.
If I look for beauty in my body and in my mind, I will never find true beauty and I will most likely never be satisfied. True beauty comes in the Spirit in me that was sent to me by God. When he calls me beautiful, I believe Him. I still struggle with self-worth issues, and it definitely is a journey, but I am so grateful that the Spirit in me is perfect and is definite beauty.
