Being Beautiful

Like most women, if I use my time to examine my body, my hair, my face, AND THEN, look around and compare myself to other women, I come out feeling lousy. I wish my breasts were larger. I wish my hair was thick. I wish it weren't so gray. My face, well, it could certainly use a tuck here and there...actually, everywhere!

My mirror is NOT telling me I am the fairest of them all. And the more I look at others to compare myself, the harsher a critic the mirror becomes.

Why do we women do these things to ourselves? Compare and compete. Is it just part of the American way? Or could it be plain old sin?

Sin has always made the beautiful ugly.  What God created good, sin distorted. Sin is the result of our trying to be what we were never meant to be.
                              God created us to depend on Him to tell us who we are.
                                       Instead, we demanded to define ourselves.
                              God created us to live in relationship with Him.
                                       Instead, we demanded to be independent, to do things our way.
                              We rebelled, and God let us.
So, we wander through a maze of doubt, distortion, and delusion toward a destiny of despair.
     (Indulge me!  I love alliteration!!  And double exclamation marks!)

Afraid to face the harsh reality that the mirror may not lie, afraid that indeed, we are not the fairest of them all, we pretend that we can make ourselves beautiful.  We buy the big boobs. We tuck the tummy.
We lift the brow and inject the Botox.  We spend hours in the gym.  We sweat.  We eat grass.
But we are no younger;  and still, we are not beautiful enough.

Exhausted and miserable,  we raise the mirror once more. We cannot deny what we see.
In the mirror is revealed the truth of our condition.  It is not our body.  It is not our face.
Open and visible to us, is our heart. It is ugly. There is selfishness.  There is pride.  There is envy.
                                                              There is...sin.
The poison on the inside of us has contaminated everything on the outside of us. We are compelled to admit:  There is no beauty to be found.

Scripture says that Christ will give us a brand new heart and make us into a brand new person.
We can lay down our sin, our brokenness, and our selfishness.  We can give up our independence and throw ourselves on the One we can trust to do what He says.
                                A new person!! (Sorry.  But it deserves the double !!)
 Isn't that really what we want?  To be made over into someone we are not, someone who is beautiful?

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that with unveiled faces we can reflect His glory.   Every day we will be TRANSFORMED more and more into His image!  (No expensive surgeries, no high priced wrinkle cream, no gym membership and hormones!)  He asks only that I trust Him.  And He gives me His glory.    Talk about a beauty secret that needs to be shared!