Beauty and the Beast

By Machelle McDowell

Do you feel pressure in today’s society to look a certain way? Do you spend more time and emphasis on your outward appearance, or your inward beauty?

The outward beauty beast within us, (pride & vanity) wages war with the inward beauty that God wants us to pursue.

I use to think that physical aging of my body would not affect me. I was wrong, LOL! As I am getting older the marks of each year are upon my face…and I think I lose an eyebrow for each year! I will soon be browless and not to mention the turkey neck I have acquired and am not happy about.

My appearance does effect me more than I realize. Why? Is it the thought of getting older? Will people look at me differently?

I am not a wine drinker and cannot claim to know a lot about wine. I have heard people say that wine tastes better with age. The Bible even mentions the superiority of aged wine, (Luke 5:39), “No one after drinking old wine desires new, for the old is good.”

Interesting. Maybe, the ingredients that have been blended together in the wine along with a long process of marination has created a beautiful thing?? It is said that the “wine’s flavors mature.” I can’t profess to know. So does that mean maturity brings beauty along with it?

Things of beauty take time. Women spend hours each morning primping. Guys, you are included in the group as well, just on a different level. That will be another blog on another day, LOL

We cannot artificially produce beauty, maybe temporarily. Even the most made up face must be “washed” at some point and, there you have it…the beast comes out, (LOL). We can only hide behind fake for so long. This is so true with our Christianity.

God values what is going on inside. Our morning ritual should be more about painting the “temple” and not so much painting the barn, (LOL).

Focusing on the attributes of God and a little less focus on our crows feet. God is doing a work in all of us. It takes time. He looks at our heart. He desires us to have a gentle and quiet spirit and quick to love.

When the beauty of the Lord is rooted in our lives the fruits of our spirit are evident and will portray who Jesus really is through our actions, words, and deeds.

Physical beauty is vain and sometimes brings out the beast in us and not the best in us.. Proverbs 31:30 speaks that charm is deceitful and that beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

What is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. What is inside is more valuable than what you see on the outside.

One day we will stand before our creator and he will not judge us based on our outward appearance rather he will judge us based on our relationship with him and who we are on the inside.

God never uses outward appearance to determine beauty. A good example is found in I Samuel 16.

The prophet Samuel was examining Jesse’s sons in search of the next king of Israel, he was impressed with Eliab’s appearance, (one of the older sons). God told Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.”

David was the youngest of 8 sons and the least experienced to be chosen king. God’s ways are not ours.

God was in search of inner beauty found in David’s heart! He was found to be a man after God’s own heart.

So many great men & women of God mentioned in the Bible for the way they served God and loved him NEVER mentions but (rarely) what they looked like! LOL

I don’t want to be a hypocrite here….hey, I am all about painting the barn…all I am asking is, “What would happen if we spent more time and effort on the inside of our barns verses the outside?” I want to be remembered as a woman after God’s own heart!

This should be a lesson in itself to us: I 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 gently and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”