What Beauty Is

We all know the phrase Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. I would like to focus on the Beholder for a moment. I just had my second child, and a few weeks ago I was feeling pretty down on myself. You know the feeling, like you just don't have it all together. Aka a pity party. What brought this up you say? Well, I had seen a picture of a friend that seemed to look perfect. My self esteem immediately began to spiral downward as I felt the need to look as beautiful as her, or at least as her pretty picture. I then, went to my husband and complained about how I need to lose the last ten pounds of baby weight, how my hair was a mess, and how I need a new wardrobe because I am so out of style. He then comforted me and said I was beautiful and as sweet as that was, it wasn't enough. Thank God for the Holy Spirit, because as I was standing in the bathroom looking at myself in the mirror, feeling low and picking apart my exterior, a scripture arose on the inside of me. We will get to that later.

I feel we are looking for beauty in all the wrong places. We think that our friends are our Beholder because they seem to know what beauty is, or at least what the media and Hollywood portray beauty to be. I want to throw in there that this is not just a teenage epidemic. As a woman in her late twenties I feel that at any age we all want to be thought of or looked at as beautiful. We try our hardest to stay up with the latest fashions and we exercise or diet until our bodies can take no more. Then when that doesn't seem to work we add in plastic surgery to get the job done. Now, don't get me wrong I have no problems with the occasional nip, tuck or enhancement. I do have a problem with the obsession that we can't be accepted as a beautiful person until we have the perfect look, the perfect bag, or the perfect pair of shoes. Please hear me out, I believe we should always look our best. The Word of God said our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. And I believe we should treat our bodies with the utmost respect, but this respect doesn't come packaged in Prada, or Gucci. It comes packaged in self worth and in loving the person God created you to be. I truly believe that when you take your focus off of what the world seems to deem as important and put your focus on what God's Word says is important,that your inner most beauty will shine out and cause your outer body to match with the inner person. Why do we get so down on ourselves when we have gained five or ten pounds, when our hair isn't cooperating with the weather, when we don't have the money to buy the newest clothing item, or when we have a random breakout. It's because we haven't placed our beauty in the right eyes. Who is the beholder that we should be concerned most about? Simple, it's Jesus.

Proverbs 31:30 says, Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Keep your focus on Jesus and off of the things of the world and your happiness will be complete, your trials will turn into victories and your self worth will sky rocket to new heights. As God brought this scripture to my heart, I immediately felt an inner peace. I would much rather be known as a woman of God than a woman focused on worldly acceptance. Thank You Lord for showing us that their is so much more!