BEAUTY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

The saying, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," is well-known throughout the land. However, it goes on to say that beauty is tough. Luckily for us, God's words can lead us to discover the true individual meaning of beauty. How He looks at our hearts.

In my last blog post I spoke about the new kind of season God is leading me into, where I am becoming a lot more unphased by worldly standards of beauty and wanting to honor Him in my appearance. But I think I came to a point where I was kind of shunning any kind of physical beauty in myself and seeing it as my downfall. I do not want men to look at me lustfully, or with hungry eyes. I do not want them to only see that in me. The last couple of years I had guys interested in me because they thought I was beautiful, and then they pursued me. When they got to know me more, I guess they stopped being interested, and this truly hurt me, I think in ways I never fully understood. I am now trying to find a balance.

I do not find myself unrealistically attractive at all. In fact, I don't quite see anything fascinating about my physical appearance. However, any part of me that is beautiful, I felt I needed to hide. I think this came from a place of wanting people to see me for my inner beauty possibly? To know me first then find me beautiful. I have so much that I need to work on in order, I think, to be beautiful from the inside, but I love how God shows us how.

1 Peter 3:3-4

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.

But, it was also brought to my attention by my counsellor that beauty is not a curse, but a blessing. God made us women in such a beautifully unique way. Our identity comes from His own hands and He has made us so intricately beautiful. I think over time we have lost the beauty behind our femininity. Our gracefulness. We harden ourselves in a world where we feel we need to constantly defend ourselves in. I am not saying you shouldn't dress the way you would like to dress, I am more saying that if you are dressing similarly to a man for the reason of trying to look and be tougher and more masculine and show your "power" perse, then maybe we need to relook at this.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

I am not perfect, nor do I try to be. I am constantly learning and growing and figuring things out. I have come to a place where I embrace God's handiwork in me, I can realize my flaws, and I can work through them and allow for them to grow me. I am constantly digging into scripture and reminding myself that, "a woman who fears the Lord, is to be greatly praised", but this is not the praise we think of. I think when you come into deep relationship with God, you cannot help but be humbled before him.

I'm struggling to distinguish between vanity and thankfulness. Hear me out... when someone compliments me, I have no idea how to respond. I feel if I say, "Thank you" then I am being vain... Either way, that is a journey all on its own. I think the just of this blog was more to say that being beautiful is not something we ladies should be ashamed of. As long as we never place ourselves on a pedestal, or above God, we can enjoy the works of His hands.

Song of Songs 4:7

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.