We are made in the image of God
We, his creation, love beauty.
We long for it.
We need it.
But like all needs,
the need for beauty
can be twisted to our hurt.
The warped world we live in
has taken this
need for beauty
and turned it into
something ugly.
Instead of encouraging us to
become beautiful
through growth,
through the practice of the
spiritual disciplines,
it tells us that we can
BUY beauty.
We see it
in the new
in advertisement papers
and compare it to
last years
new
in our closet
and it tells us that
we need....
We see it in the
faux
flawless
faces,
the airbrushed
altered
bodies
on the billboards,
and the face in the mirror
can not compare.
"You need this product."
And you'll need an new one tomorrow.
"You need this look."
And there will be a new one next season.
"You need this thing."
And it will wear out, or go out of style soon.
And the
ugly truth
behind the lie
is that you will wear yourself out
running after
purchased pretty.
(1 Peter 3:3)
Don't let the things that
make you beautiful
be things on the outside,
like the way you arrange your hair
or the clothing you wear.
Make sure that your beauty comes from
inside you,
the unfading beauty
of a gentle, quieted spirit
which is highly valued
in Gods sight.
This is not saying
"Don't wear beautiful things"
it is saying
"Don't let what
MAKES
you
beautiful
be
things."
Real beauty can't be bought.
It is not in a tube
or on a hanger.
You can't arrange it,
not with a braid,
or a pin curl
or with a brush.
You can't wear it,
you have to grow it.
Fashion fades.
Bodies age.
But real beauty
is a treasure
all can afford,
and none outgrow.