Have you ever seen something beautiful try to hide, or worse, succeed in destroying its beauty? It's really sad when that happens. It makes no sense for something beautiful to be kept hidden. Beauty should be shown to everyone! Beauty shouldn't try to hide or commit suicide. And beauty shouldn't envy something "more beautiful".
If you don't understand what I'm saying, think of a beautiful woman. Ever see a beautiful woman try to hide her beauty, or make herself ugly, out of a guilt of being beautiful? Or have you seen a gorgeous woman kill herself because she wasn't "pretty enough"?
Does it make sense now?
One of the craziest things to me is when a beautiful girl thinks she's ugly. Almost every girl I know is self-conscience about her appearance, even if that appearance is exceptionally attractive. That's really confusing. And disappoiting.
Girls these days find beauty in the most diverse places. I know pretty girls who wear so much make up that they become ugly. And I know beautiful girls who never wear make up nor do they attempt to dress nice, so they don't ever really look as beautiful as they could or should. Some girls don't wear enough clothes. Some girls wear grungy or tacky clothes. By wearing too little clothing, or unattractive clothing, or too much or too little make up, some girls actually take away from their beauty.
How long until girls start treating their bodies like God's temple? When will girls respect their God-created bodies to dress and look as beautiful as possible? I'm waiting for the day when girls choose to embrace beauty in a graceful manner.
I know too many Christian girls who falsely believe that as Christians, they shouldn't try to be pretty. They misread Scriptures like 1 Peter 3:3-4, which in the NIV, says, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight." People read into this Scripture and think, Okay, this passage says that beauty can't come from outer appearances, so let's cover up all outer beauty! No! That's not what this says! Peter is talking about identity here. He's saying: "Don't let your outer appearance define who you are. Just like a guy shouldn't let football, his car, or his muscles become his identity or what he judges his self-value by, girls shouldn't judge her value as a child of God by comparing her features to other girls. A girl doesn't sin when she looks gorgeous; she sins when she lets her beauty define who she is by comparing herself to other girls.
I know many girls who try to uglify themselves simply because she thinks if she looks good, somehow that isn't good.
I'm waiting for the day when girls realize that's okay to look pretty. If God created us in His image, He created us to look beautiful because we all look like Him. Don't hide your beauty. Don't try to deny your beauty out of false humility or insecurity.
4 comments:
*standing ovation*
EXACTLY! *mutters under breath about how amazingly you word stuff and how jealous I am (not really though:D)* You always put things in a very understandable light. If only more girls could hear this message. Be you. Be the beautiful you you are supposed to be, without be provocative. It's sad. Only recently have I been learning to just celebrate the way God has made me and be...simply, but not simply beautiful...if that makes since.
Great post brother!
This is definitely true. The idea of being who you are has been taken a bit too far in secular culture, but to an extent it is true. Too many girls (and I'm sure guys, too, but since I'm a girl I get them a little more) try to change who they really are to be something that they're not, whether through clothing, make up, or attitude. It's sad, because God obviously never meant for us to be identical images of each other. He made us the way we are for a reason, and we shouldn't hide it.
A great book for girls is Paperdoll by Natalie Lloyd, by the way. (It's also for guys who like hot pink book covers, as the author notes on her blog. :) It explores this subject very well.
Thank you so much for this post! It's a message girls MUST take into their hearts, but as girls it is very very difficult. What I especially love about this is that you are a guy writing about this. That means so much more to me because that means we're not dressing up for eachother as girls, but we are being looked at as beautiful - and that is the cry of so many girl's hearts.
Unfortunately, this world screams at us to look prettier than we are (by all using the same clothes and make-up, therefore becoming clones of eachother). But you are right - God has created every girl with a unique beauty that we have been gifted in being able to compliment through clothing and some make-up.
Thanks for this post!
Thank you so much!
Post a Comment