Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

What YOU see is what beauty is...NOT what someone else sees

Every year, women spend billions of dollars on "beauty" products.  Our favorite celebrities are often used to pitch products to us as we sit in our living rooms and watch the boob tube.  Queen Latifah, Drew Barrymore, Beyonce and others sport the latest in make-up technology and tell us that we should wear the same stuff to make us "beautiful" just like them.  Has anyone ever stopped to think about how weird it is for you to listen to someone else regarding YOUR beauty, ladies?  The only thing that should tell you how beautiful you are is the mirror that is in front of you.  You are constantly bombarded with images that do not look anything like you that tell you "this is true beauty", "this is how you should look", "this is the perfect weight for you".


Who told you that you weren't beautiful enough already?  What do external adornments do for your self-esteem?  Absolutely nothing!  They are nothing more than fillers to fill a temporary hole in your mind.  "Make-up" only covers up your real beauty ladies.  It cannot change who you are.  WebMD published an article about cosmetics and this is what it says: "From the copper and lead ore that the ancient Egyptians used to create the world's first cosmetics to the scientifically advanced products of today that can do everything from hide pores, smooth complexions, and turn the pale green of your eyes a vivid shade of emerald, makeup has been an integral part of humankind for thousands of years. Over the centuries, women used burnt matches to darken their eyes, berries to stain their lips and young boys' urine to fade their freckles. They even swallowed ox blood in some misguided attempt to improve their complexions."  

While the ingredients may be safer now, the concept behind women  "making up" their faces is still the same.  Women feel that they must make themselves attractive either for the world around them, for a man that they are trying to get or simply because they feel that they cannot leave the house looking any old kinda way.  The truth is, true beauty comes from the inside and never from the outside.  Anyone superficial enough to believe that what's on the outside is what counts will only attract someone that feels the same way.  God set the precedent for this by judging the hearts of men rather than the external actions of men (1 Samuel 16:7, Luke 16:15, John 8:15, Proverbs 15:11).

There is biblical precedence for modesty in women's adornment.  Don't take this as me saying that men do not have to be humble as well.  There is a mandate from God for ALL Christians to be humble.  1 Peter 3:1-4 reads as follows:

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 

Listen closely to the Apostle Peter. He is not saying that there is anything wrong with outer adornment, but don't let the outer adornment be what defines you rather let your adornment be hidden in the person of the heart. Let your beauty be from the inside out. Paul also talked about women dressing moderately and with decency. Paul and Peter would be appalled if he were to walk in many of our churches on Sunday. Men looking like pimps with multi-colored suits, pinky-rings and alligator shoes and women that look like they belong to a pimp with short dresses, maximum cleavage and enough foundation and rouge to choke a horse. What ends up happening is the church becomes a place for hidden sensuality or sometimes even open sensuality. Men and women are coming into the place where we corporately worship God with worship being the furthest thing from their minds. Women sauntering up to drop their envelopes off in the offering tray become eye-candy and fantasies for the men watching them. It can easily be said that the men shouldn't look but before the man looked, the woman looked in the mirror on the way out of the door.




Beauty that is only skin deep is really not beauty at all. God created us in his image. Our attempts to accentuate that image often end up doing more harm than good. Breast implants, butt implants, cheek implants, gobs of make-up and other "beautification" methods are not necessary. You are beautiful just the way that you are. Vanity often leads us to question that but vanity is fleeting, like a mist in the morning. Remember ladies, your beauty begins on the inside and radiates outwardly. Notice that Peter also says that your humility and gentleness also affects your mates. It contributes to them to being won over for the Lord. God bless you sisters and remember that you are beautiful, no matter what anyone says.