Behold the Beauty (Part 3)

Have I mentioned... He calls YOU beautiful? 

This was actually the title of a great speech given by one of our keynote speakers at the Women's retreat... Hollie shared a lot of great points, many of which you might find lurking in this post.

God created us in HIS image, specifically "Imago Dei." I doubt many of us would have the cajones to call God anything but beautiful, marvelous, worthy, beloved.... So why would we do that to ourselves if we are made BY Him, IN Him, as a reflection OF Him? 

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." 

--Genesis 1:26-27, 31.

When we tear ourselves to pieces, convincing ourselves that we aren't good enough, smart enough or straight up not beautiful enough, we aren't just dissing ourselves... We are knocking God's awesome creation! He made each of us different for a reason. Some people are tall, some short, some round, others thin, red/black/brown/blonde hair, big nose, little lips, each and every piece of us he made with a purpose. He didn't just put thought into our creation-- he put his LOVE in us. Into our hearts. Our inner selves. HE MADE US BEAUTIFUL!! 

"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." 1 Peter 3:3-4

He calls YOU beautiful... He is your suitor, constantly wooing you, whispering sweet words into your heart. He adores you-- every single part of you, from the freckles to the "bad hair days" down to your slightly crooked little pinky toe. He revels in your beauty, even when we don't act very beautiful or are battling some ugly things in our hearts. He loves us unconditionally-- and that will never, ever change, no matter how you act, what you wear or how much make-up you have on.  He calls YOU beautiful-- because He loves you!

“‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared." Ezekiel 28:12-13

He thinks you are so beautiful and worthy that he gave His one and only son for you. Trust the Lord and understand that He knew what he was doing. You are the most beautiful one he ever laid eyes one-- He's crazy about you!! 

"All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you." --Song of Solomon 4:7

So my dear reader, as I close out this beauty-driven blog post series, I have a final plea for you. Next time you are bashing on yourself and have any kind of thought other beauty towards yourself, please remember: God calls you beautiful, from the moment that you stumble out of bed to the instant you lay your head on the pillow and everything in between. 

Please, call yourself beautiful. Say it outloud. Right now. "Thank you God, for making me so beautiful. I am blessed to be your masterpiece." He is beautiful and you were made in His image... even though sacrificing his beloved son on the cross was painful, ask Him about it... and He will tell you that it was SO worth it. He calls you beloved. Call yourself beloved. Call yourself beautiful.

Why? Because you ARE!

Remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder-- and He is the supreme beholder!

Head over heels in LOVE with Him,
SGK

"Bravo, God, Bravo! Everyone join in the great shout: Encore! In awe before the beauty, in awe before the might." --Psalm 96:7 (MSG)

Behold the Beauty (Part 2)

My beautiful family... (Don't worry,
Dal, I think you are beautiful too,
this is just before your "time." Ha) 

Think of a time that some one has sincerely told you that you are beautiful. Maybe it was a spouse. Perhaps a best friend. Maybe even a stranger. Oh, and don't forget God (He always calls you beautiful!) How does that make you feel??

I don't know about you, but if someone tells me that, I get all fluttery and blushy warm all around my heart. It feels SO GOOD. It's OK to feel good about that-- embrace it, don't deny it and start picking yourself apart... YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Hopefully you were able to catch yesterday's post (otherwise you are probably thoroughly confused at this point. But hey, it does say "Part 2" at the top ;-) It's all about beholding our own beauty. Today we are taking it to an even deeper level.

As a music lover, I have noticed there are ton of songs out there about beauty. And I'm not talking about the superficial rap songs "tap that" kind of beauty (yeah, I said it.) I mean the true beauty-based songs... A few examples:

More Beautiful You-- Jonny Diaz

Beautiful-- Christina Aguilera

You Are So Beautiful To Me-- Joe Cocker

Beautiful-- Bethany Dillon

Don't You Know You're Beautiful-- Kellie Pickler

I am sure there are a bunch more songs that I couldn't think of right off the top of my head... So if there are so many great songs out there about being beautiful (inside AND out) then why is admitting and embracing our own beauty such an issue?

We all know that old adage that "beauty is only skin deep." Well I say PSHAW to that... I think that it does much deeper than that, and internal beauty can "seep" through, up and out, overflowing over your skin, all over you and everywhere around you. If you have a beautiful heart, I firmly believe your gorgeous factor shoots through the roof!! Don't believe me? Let me prove it.

Let's pretend that you are single and there are two individuals of the opposite gender across the room. One is the your DREAM... blonde hair, blue eyes, or maybe the tall/dark/handsome... whatever. The other one looks "average" or "normal" (whatever "normal" is...) So the DREAMY one approaches you... but turns out to be a big dumb jerkface, a heart consumed with self. Beauty factor drops out the bottom. Yuck. Not so pretty now, huh?

I think Mama Lex is most beautiful when she
is being silly... not that we do that often
together... 

But the "normal" (again, I scoff) person approaches you... and you find out that their heart is pure-- full of humble love, overflowing with awesomeness and they just so happen to be deeper than a summer rain puddle. BOOM. Beauty factor skyrockets. Get it?

Need another example? Ok, I will make it personal. I will admit that I was immediately physically attracted to the sandy-haired blue-eyed man that eventually became my husband... but I didn't swoon in the corner, overwhelmed by his beauty-- until we began to talk and get to know each other. Holy cow, he turned out to be a hottie!! Brandon's heart is gorgeous, so generous and full of the love of Christ. He is by far the most swoon-worthy man I have ever met (which is the way it should be.)

But it gets even better-- when I asked him was first attracted him to me, do you know what he said? My hips. MY HIPS! The one part of my body I despised the most! And just as it happened with me, he said that as he got to know me and realized "I had a brain" (his words, not mine) that I went from cute to beautiful. Why? Because he got to know my heart. And if you get to know your own heart, you will see that you too can be beautiful-- inside and out, "child-bearing hips" or not.

Think about some of your closest, bestest best friends... How would you describe them? Mine would be beautiful. I have always said that I didn't know how I was so lucky to get such gorgeous friends. Becky, Emily, Kally, my Mama and Lex all physically look different than one another, but as far as I am concerned, they are the most beautiful women who have ever walked the face of the earth. Why? Because I love them all, and I love them so deeply-- they all have beautiful hearts... Which again makes both their insides and outsides drop-dead gorgeous.

You know your friends are GORGEOUS if they can make
faces like this and because they have such amazing
hearts, it just makes them more beautiful!

You know what? God's love for you is so incredibly deep and wide, that he thinks YOU are the most beautiful thing in the world... We are all different, fearfully and wonderfully made, so we can't compare ourselves to others. If you have a heart that loves Christ, you can rest assured that he loves you inside and out... down to the last pimple, hang-nail and last fly-away hair on your head! Behold your internal AND external beauty. God does-- and he KNOWS you are beautiful!!

You are so beautiful to me (and God!)
SGK


"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." --Psalm 139:14