Beauty Meets the Gospel

Sometimes, to my amusement, I read in the magazines those comical letters that girls
write to the beauty specialists. If these letters could all be put together into one, it would read something like this: “How am I to make myself pretty so that I shall be admired for my good looks? I want to be rid of all my blemishes, my freckles, my pug nose, my pimples, and my stringy hair. I would have my hands very white and shapely and tender, and I would be neither too fat nor too thin. Tell me, Miss Specialist, how to make myself beautiful.” This wise man of old has answered this question in words that are most appropriate: “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.” - Beautiful Girlhood

What the 1 Peter verse is forbidding is the “inordinate love and excessive use (that is the abuse) of them.”...we must not set our hearts upon them, nor value ourselves by them, nor think the better of ourselves for them, nor pride ourselves in them, as if they added any real excellence to us. - Matthew Henry

There is an unfading beauty that a woman can develop that is precious to God. It is a
costly beauty, “of great worth in God’s sight.” It is a lasting beauty. It will never evanesce (disappear). Notice the adjective unfading. This word can be translated indestructible, incorruptible, imperishable, hence, immortal. It speaks of a beauty that is damage resistant, incapable of being destroyed, not subject to decay or death-in other words, everlasting. There is a beauty that wrinkles cannot diminish, age cannot dim, and death cannot destroy. God is the judge of this kind of beauty, and His judgment is sincere and heartfelt. He has true and lasting beauty for you and for me. Does that thrill you as it does me? This inner beauty is powerful, pure, and permanent. And it is precious in the sight of God. - Jani Ortland

...when we trust God, we are actually making ourselves beautiful. And not only in the
eyes of God; this beauty is apparent to others as well. Also instead of fading as our
physical attractiveness does (by our late twenties you will already be considered past
your prime), we grow more beautiful as we grow older. - Carolyn Mahaney

“Why is a gentle and quiet spirit pleasing to God? Because serenity is a sign of trust.
When we are agitated and restless, we are responding to life in fear. Worry leaves no
room for God’s way to be trusted. What enables us to be gentle and quiet in the hidden
part of our feminine souls? What produces an inner serenity in the midst of tumult? It is a deep confidence in God’s loving care, in His Fatherly protection. It is the belief that He holds only the kindest intentions towards us. - Jani Ortland

My mom's message on Beauty was incredible. It was very honest (no surprise coming from my mom) and so grace-filled (also no surprise). A couple things I came away with:

• Beauty is not wrong. What is wrong is a sinful obsession, inordinate love, excessive use, and/or sinful focus with it.
• Do I view a gentle & quiet spirit like God does? Is it precious to me?
• Gentle & quiet spirit = Living a live of confident peace in God. Steadfast peace, because of a steadfast trust in God. Your heart (peace & trust) will affect your appearance and actions. Gentle & quiet spirit isn't as much about your outside as it is about your heart. If your heart is right, it will affect your actions.

You can download the mp3 message & outline HERE.