True Beauty
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”
Proverbs 31:30
You know, some birthdays are harder than others. There is just something about turning another year older that gets to you. My thirty-fifth birthday is on Wednesday, and I have to admit, I am having a hard time with this one. It seems like just yesterday, I was turning the big 3-0. The older I get, the faster the years fly by. I just need time to slow down just a bit.
This birthday, has got me thinking a lot about what true beauty looks like and what the world says it is. For so many years, I was led to believe the wrong things about it all. For so long, I thought to be truly beautiful, I had to have this perfect body in order to even be considered normal or pretty. Magazines, television, and the entertainment industry all label what they see as beautiful the wrong way. To be beautiful, you don't have to be a size zero. It's so much more than just what's on the outside. That was something that took me many years to learn.
I have found myself paying extra attention to my outward appearance lately. Partly, because this birthday marks the half-way point between thirty and forty! Yikes! My figure is different because of having babies and I'm okay with that. I am noticing a few fine lines around my eyes and I have stretch marks from carrying my two precious boys, and that's okay too. The stretch marks are beautiful to me now because I was blessed to be able to grow and carry life inside me when so many women can't even do that. The marks are just a reminder of that precious time in my life. At this point, I wouldn't take them away for anything. But, my outlook was different in my twenties. I felt they made me look ugly. I was insecure and didn't really have a healthy grasp on body image. For so long, I tried to keep up with what the society said I should look like. It took too long for me to understand that someone's heart and love for people make them truly a beautiful person. It's what is on the inside that matters most.
This birthday, has got me thinking a lot about what true beauty looks like and what the world says it is. For so many years, I was led to believe the wrong things about it all. For so long, I thought to be truly beautiful, I had to have this perfect body in order to even be considered normal or pretty. Magazines, television, and the entertainment industry all label what they see as beautiful the wrong way. To be beautiful, you don't have to be a size zero. It's so much more than just what's on the outside. That was something that took me many years to learn.
I have found myself paying extra attention to my outward appearance lately. Partly, because this birthday marks the half-way point between thirty and forty! Yikes! My figure is different because of having babies and I'm okay with that. I am noticing a few fine lines around my eyes and I have stretch marks from carrying my two precious boys, and that's okay too. The stretch marks are beautiful to me now because I was blessed to be able to grow and carry life inside me when so many women can't even do that. The marks are just a reminder of that precious time in my life. At this point, I wouldn't take them away for anything. But, my outlook was different in my twenties. I felt they made me look ugly. I was insecure and didn't really have a healthy grasp on body image. For so long, I tried to keep up with what the society said I should look like. It took too long for me to understand that someone's heart and love for people make them truly a beautiful person. It's what is on the inside that matters most.
In the past week or so, I have really been reflecting upon my life, especially the last fifteen years, and how hard it was to live under the stigma society puts on young girls to be beautiful. Especially, in this generation. It's so prevalent everywhere now days. It breaks my heart to see a young girl make negative comments about her appearance or weight. One thing I realized was, that when I was in my twenties, I never sought after what the bible said makes a woman beautiful. I always relied on man to tell me those things. Oh how life would have been different if I truly understood back then. I realize now, that no matter what my outward appearance looks like, My God always looks at the inside. He looks at our hearts. We are all His perfect creations. And because He says we are perfect, shouldn't we all love and accept ourselves the way He made us? As a woman, I know how real the struggle is to want to always look our best. Before you know it, the desire to want to look perfect consumes you. Looking good for man is all you are living to accomplish. It is so easy to lose sight of what really is beautiful when all you do is try to please man instead of God.
My outlook on beauty has changed so much over the years. Some of the most beautiful women I know have grey hair or wrinkles. They are our mothers and grandmothers. They are not a size 0. They are not models in magazines. They are just ordinary, everyday women, with amazing hearts. Just by looking at them, you can see their heart through their eyes. You can sense that their spirit is full of love and kindness. Now that is truly beautiful. They have so much wisdom to offer to us if we just sit down long enough to listen. These women aren't what society says is "normal beauty". But, it doesn't matter what society says-we are all beautiful! I am truly comfortable in my own skin. My goal isn't to be what society says I should be. My goal is to be healthy and active for my family and for the kingdom. I don't run and workout for man like I did all those years back. I do so because I want to be strong enough to accomplish the will that God has on my life. That is what is important to me.
" Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20.