Lately I’ve been dreaming of all things beautiful. Of riding bareback on a spotted white horse in a flowing summer dress and brown cowgirl boots; of freshly cut wildflowers from the farmers market; of surfing my long-board with a radiant sunset and dolphins as my backdrop. This craving to behold beauty and be in its presence inspires me. It’s why I love sifting through the rummage racks at TJ Max on lazy afternoons and waking up early Saturday mornings in search of shabby chic furniture under $10.
I have lots of girlfriends who capture this beauty I’m talking about – in their photographs and paintings, their handmade, ocean-inspired jewelry, and vintage outfits they salvaged together from thrift stores. Radiant sunsets; mangy oak trees; a harvest moon, fireflies in summer; a child’s giggle – the beauty around us speaks of a beautiful Creator. No, it didn’t all “just happen.” Romans 1:12 tells us: For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. God is the great artist, the master designer – the chief author of all things beautiful. His evidence surrounds us and we have no excuse not to believe in something bigger than ourselves.
Have you ever wondered why as women, we thirst for beauty? Why we crave to both be found beautiful and enveloped in the splendor of all things lovely?
It’s because we come from God – the author of beauty Himself. We are His handiwork – the very “crown of His creation,” “fearfully and wonderfully made.” So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). As His daughters, we’ve been made with a feminine heart designed to bear His image and character to the world. These cravings within us are no accident. They are completely intentional.
Beauty is an attribute of God, manifested in His handiwork and the souls of those who love Him.
A woman of authentic beauty is a woman who brings life, not death. She sows peace, not a spirit of striving; she “opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy (Proverbs 31).” She is clothed in compassion; in joy and in salvation through Jesus Christ. Real beauty – beauty as it is intended to be exalts God and edifies those in your presence.
We haven’t been created just to decorate our homes, face, body or closets as the world pressures us to. We’ve been called and created to decorate nations; to decorate the faces of orphans with gleaming smiles; to clothe a younger generation of girls with their value and worth in Christ; to fight for justice; to be a voice for the speechless and a tangible expression of Jesus’ love to the broken.
I pray that today your eyes will be opened to your authentic beauty, and that you will learn to walk in your true value and worth as a daughter of the One who made you and sent His son to save you, fill you and one day set all things right.
