Okay, so I felt naked an insecure with only one post, so here is something that I wrote last year to fill this void....
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Such a simple word yet it holds so much weight. Beauty is different in the eyes of every individual. Beauty can be spoken of in many different contexts. As in, “That sunset is absolutely beautiful,” or, “That girl sitting over there is really beautiful.” The type of beauty I want to focus on is that of human appearance. In the past and even more today beauty is defined for us by the media. If you want profits all you need to do is to put a half naked women on a commercial, billboard, or whatever and your sales will dramatically rise.
Sex sells.
I won’t deny it. Women’s bodies are placed on pedestals and idolized. They are objects of worship for many men. Little ‘g’ gods if you will. The message sent to young women everywhere is that they need to look a certain way, be a certain size, and to wear a particular type of clothing. The message that preaches that unless your face is caked with unfathomable amounts of makeup that no man will find you the least bit attractive. This is the message that forcefully drives girls to mental issues such as anorexia and bulimia, and self mutilation in many different ways just to achieve the desired appearance.
This very standard set before these girls are unattainable.
Even the very models we see in magazines, billboards, etc are photo shopped so that every blemish and problem areas are covered. What then is the gain of setting this unachievable goal? Well beside the gain of horrible self image and alarming rates of impurity in these girl’s lives, the profit is profit. The standard is set and they fall into this cleverly designed trap. Companies are making a killing off the self image issues they have created.
What won’t we do for a buck?
Sex sells.
The human body was meant to be desired by members of the opposite sex. These desires are natural. What we as human beings, in our o’ so sinful nature did was to distort what blessing God gave us. We twisted it horribly for our own gain. We have fallen under the leadership of our lustful desires and have thrown sex into public domain in hopes that we will make many more plummet under this dictatorship. And we have overwhelming success! How are we to combat this brutal lie that so many of us fall into believing?
Last week I was at a camp with Living Hope with an amazing group of middle and high school students. I was standing in back of the crowd worshiping through song when something caught my eye. What I saw and experienced was
the most beautiful thing that I have seen.
I saw students singing their hearts out to the Lord Jesus Christ full submission. Hands were raised, tears were dampening shirts, and tone deaf teenagers were lifting praise to the heavens. It was an emotional overload to say the least. From experience I have learned to never trust reactions. It is so easy to get caught up in the mood of the room and thus react. It wasn’t until I was able to take a group of young men aside and found the source of this reaction. They were all utterly broken for Christ. The Gospel was delivered and God used it to speak to each and every one of them. God was the igniter for all the reactions in that room. The lyrics pouring out of their mouths: “How Great is our God” and “It is Well with my Soul” were overflowing from their hearts. This was a time were there were no self image issues, no unattainable goals of physical beauty set forth by this world. It was a time where they knew their self worth in Christ and the grace they freely have received. The grace that speaks to them saying that,
“No, you aren’t good enough.
You will never be good enough. But there is one who is perfect. And when I look at you I see Him. And when I look at you I see no blemishes. I see no wrong that you have done.
You are the most beautiful thing that my eyes have every seen.”
This message was resonating through the room and echoed from their voices.
I have found what true beauty is.
I know what it looks like.
It is not in the form of makeup, designer clothes, shoes, or even a pretty face. True beauty shows its face when people are so consumed with their Creator that their bodies can’t contain it and it overflows into their lives and actions.
That is what beauty is.
We need to take our eyes of physical and start looking at spiritual. Face it: people get uglier as they get older, skin will sag, disease will cripple. I will be a nasty hairy old man that no one will ever find physically attractive. I’ve accepted it.
Looks fade.
What won’t fade is your worth in Christ.
It is infinite.
And from a guy’s perspective when you see a girl worshiping God with her entire being without a care in the world- it’s the hottest thing in the world. You get blown back and are like, “Dang she’s bad!”
I’m serious. Ladies, if any guy tells you anything different he’s an idiot with the wrong priorities.
Tell him that.
Now I will remind you that I was at a high school and middle school camp and I being taken back saying ‘dang, she’s bad’ would be kind of pedifile-ish and just messed up in general.
I thought I would add that little tidbit there and clear things up. :)
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