I've been described as many things in my life, but beautiful has rarely been one of them. I don't remember ever hearing this word from my parents. Maybe they said it, but I don't remember hearing it. I know I definitely never FELT beautiful. I remember being told to change the way I dress or change how I wear my hair. If only I would change ________, I could be pretty too. Every little girl wants to feel like a princess and hear that she is beautiful. If this is not something you hear or feel as you are growing up, you become a woman who seeks to hear this word about you. You seek to gain attention, even when it is not in a positive way.
The reality is our society's definition of beautiful excludes most of the population. It's this idea of beauty that leads to eating disorders, be it not eating or eating too much. This picture of beauty is why billions of dollars have been spent on plastic surgery to change some perceived imperfection in ourselves. While the economy is in a downturn, the cosmetics industry is still making a big profit. According to Bloomberg, in 2010, L'Oreal reported a 25% increase in profits!
As I've matured in age and grown in my walk with Christ, my definition of beauty has changed. Many of the women I consider truly beautiful may not turn every head the minute they walked into a room. As I've come to know these women, it's because of their spirits that I consider them beautiful. It's their brokenness, their honesty, their integrity, their obedience to God's voice, their unwavering faith that make them amazingly beautiful. This is the kind of beauty I seek to have.
As I was listening to music this morning, God spoke to me through this song...
I was singing the lyrics when I heard God speak to me. He said, "stop singing, I want to sing this to you. This is how I feel about YOU." He says "I just want to wait on you. I want to dwell on who you are (how I made you)....beautiful, beautiful I'm lost for more to say. Beautiful, you're beautiful to me. Here in your presence, I am not afraid of brokenness (I was broken for you). To wash your feet with humble tears (because when you need me, I'm here and I cry when you cry)."
The little girl who has so longed to hear she is beautiful no longer has to yearn for those words. She hears them now. She hears them often. She hears them from her Daddy.
Nice post! We are in these shells called bodies and they should not be the focus. However, our Society focuses on it very much, to the detriment of our Spirits & Souls. As a child it was kind of the opposite for me. Each sibling had their talent, most of which were figured out early. I on the other hand was labeled as the Pretty one-aka: no talent necessary. I didn't really think about it until I went to a different HS in 10th grade & all of this attention from guys started.
ReplyDeleteI struggled to find my "talent", my "purpose" all the while being pushed into the same corner-the pretty one. I knew I was more than that but no one would look deeper than that; no one supported me or took my meager efforts seriously. So I gave up on finding my purpose for years until I reconnected with God & HE expanded my view of myself. Finally I felt safe enough to move forward, didn't need anyone else to look deeper because God had & from that point on, my soul was at peace with the inside and the outside...
Very well said Tiffany! We can often forget that it can be harder for the "beautiful" people to be seen for their internal beauty. Thanks for commenting!
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