By Miss Toria H. - 2009 Essay Contest Runner Up
Her complexion was smooth and creamy, and her eyes were vibrant
with color.
Long tresses of silky hair graced her head and formed ringlets around her fair face. Her cheeks had a healthy blush to them, but no blemish was upon her. Rosy lips and pearl white teeth graced her sweet mouth, while her hands were soft and white and her slim figure glided softly on dainty feet…
Every
girl dreams of possessing perfect qualities. No girl wishes to have blemishes, red, chapped hands, or
frizzy hair. We all get upset at
the appearance of a pimple, and many wish our eyes were brown instead of blue.
The mirror is a girl’s best friend, along with her cover-stick, of
course.
You see, every girl wants to be beautiful, lovely, and stunning, but the fact of life is that very few are the perfect image of beauty…or are they?
You see,
the image of beauty has been corrupted in this world we live in.
According to the world, you have to “fit in” to be beautiful by wearing the hottest name-brand clothing, styling your hair the way the movie stars do, and acting like the most popular girls. If you don’t bend to the trends, you’re out of the “in” group...and out of beauty. Beauty to them is twig figures, painted faces, blackened eyelashes, and clothing that pushes the comfort zones. But is this real beauty? Or is it something else?
Unfortunately, the world entraps many a girl looking to be beautiful.
The world’s girls practically feel naked without makeup…yet they feel no shame when wearing low-cut shirts. But what about God’s girls? Can God’s girls be really beautiful compared to the world’s high…er, “low” standards? Let’s take a look!
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing for gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful.” -1 Peter 3:3-5, NIV
I think the above verses speak plainly by themselves. If you’re God’s girl, your beauty shouldn’t come from the outside. In other words, people shouldn’t be attracted to your appearance, but rather to your devotion to God. God doesn’t want your eyes to be blue instead of brown…He made them that way! He doesn’t care if your clothes aren’t up to the world’s standards; rather, He cares about your inner self.
“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” -1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV
Again, it’s clear that our Master doesn’t look at the outward appearance. Beauty doesn’t come from the outside in His Mind like the world thinks it does. So, if we’re God’s girls rather than the world’s, why are we worried about being beautiful? I think it’s fine to fix up our hair, coordinate our skirts with our shirts, and maybe don a necklace, but we shouldn’t believe that’s where our beauty is coming from. Instead of focusing on being beautiful on the outside, we should be more concerned about our beauty on the inside, for this is where real beauty comes from!
We need to decide who we want to please, whose attention we want to draw to us, and who we want to accept us. Who do you think is more important to please? Would you rather live your life for the world in order to be called beautiful for a little while, or would you rather live your life for God in order to be called beautiful forever?
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” –Proverbs 31:30, NIV
We won’t
always have a smooth and creamy complexion, or eyes that are vibrant with
color. Our hair won’t always be
silky and curly, and our cheeks won’t always have a healthy blush. We won’t always have rosy lips and
pearl white teeth, or white, soft hands.
We won’t always have a slim figure and dainty feet. We may never be perfectly beautiful
without blemishes on the outside, but we can definitely work towards perfection
on the inside. After all, the inside is where true beauty… real beauty, comes
from.
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