Beautiful Lady - Part 1

I’m doing a study with my teen girls about lies that our culture teaches us;  it’s appalling to think how many lies we actually believe.  One lie that I believe too many of our young people believe is that “beautiful girls are worth more.”  Hence the reason we spend time flipping through magazine articles, scrolling through pictures on Pinterest, pinning hair-do’s, outfits and make-up tips.  I watch many of our teens come in to church and make a pit stop in the bathroom, making sure that they look "ok".

I shouldn’t laugh but watching our young girls mature into the teenage years is a lot of fun.  When one of your girls shows up at youth group with bright lipstick or dark dark eyes, you just want to hug them.  You know that they are trying so hard to fit in but look amazing at the same time. However, these girls need so much more than that new outfit, the newest diet or even more make-up. They need to exercise the “hidden man of the heart”.  They need to get in the WORD instead of in front of the mirror.

However, this article is not just directed toward my lovely teens; this is a message that we adults need as well.  We watch movies and see these stick-thin ladies and feel we must look their size.  I have friends in all shapes, heights and sizes and they are all beautiful to me, not because of what they look like but because of what they act like.

Ok, so stop and imagine.  If you could picture the most beautiful  lady, what would she look like? What would her hair look like? What size would she be? How tall would she be? How much would she weigh? What clothes would she be wearing?

Now lets look at the Bible and see what it says about that beautiful lady.

Proverbs 31:30 says “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised”

Yes, ladies, we all know that beauty is fleeting. As I write this I have a belly that protrudes almost to my computer screen.  Ok, so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but, as I am 8 months pregnant, it is way out there.  I have seen how much I have changed since my teen years.  I already see the wear and tear on my body. I  am NOT the teen I used to be, but my beauty can still increase. Through fearing of the Lord and the close relationship I develop with Him, my beauty can and will increase.

I Peter 3:3-4 “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”

The Bible even talks about how our beauty NEEDS to be inward.  It’s not to be the jazzing up of our hair or the newest outfit or the jewelry we find at Charming Charlie’s.   It is to be the woman inside, a meek and quiet spirit, focused on God and others.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.”

Godliness and good works: that is beauty.

So now picture that beautiful lady?  Now how do you see her?  Now it’s not really about what she looks like, but how she acts, what she is doing for others, how she responds to people. I picture a lovely lady with a smile on her face, reaching out and helping others.  She is making her friends laugh, wiping a tear, putting her arm around the needy and leading them all to Christ.  This is a beautiful lady and she is worth more then rubies (Prov. 31)

Let’s apply it to you.  What is hanging on your walls, teens?  What are you looking at? What are you completely focused on?  Have you spent more time in front of the mirror or in front of your Bible today?