Beautifully Made

As my 6 year old daughter stood at the sink washing her hands I noticed how much she was growing up.

"Wow Karis, you are really getting tall!" I told her. "You are growing so much, and you are more beautiful each and every day." (Maybe some child psychologist would tell me not to say this, but it was true so I said it.)

"No, I'm not," she said, "yesterday I was less beautiful."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, my shirt yesterday wasn't as pretty," she explained.

"Oh, well there is a big difference between pretty and beautiful." I said. "Pretty is on the outside, but beauty comes from inside. Pretty comes from the way we brush our hair or a cute outfit. Beauty is created by God and put inside of you. You are beautiful because you shine who God created you to be."

It is easy to tell this to a 6 year old girl, but harder to truly embrace this for ourselves as women. We are constantly bombarded by false messages of beauty in our culture...workout regiments that will turn us into bikini models, facial creams that will keep us looking like 20 year olds forever, and new diets that will cause us to lose 100 lbs overnight if we will just drink this one thing every morning (just enter your email to find out what it is and get 10 emails a day for the rest of your life!). There are miracle make up products to make your skin look flawless, for those of you who failed to purchase the creams; there are curling wands to make your straight hair curly or straighteners to make your curly hair straight. There are blogs that tell us how to dress, cameras that will critique our appearance and tell us how to look better, and spandex undergarments that will magically transform our less than perfect figure into the perfect hourglass shape. This is the world we live in, and over and over we are blasted with the message that beauty is looking just right. And often times I fall for it. Beauty comes from working harder, eating less, and paying more...all the while acting like it's just natural because we are not supposed to look like we tried hard to achieve it.

I'm not against trying to look pretty. I wear makeup, own both a curler and a straightener, workout, aim to eat mostly healthy, and I do enjoy seeing those pinterest posts that show you how to make 100 adorable outfits out of 10 articles of clothing (although I'll never be anywhere close to a capsule wardrobe). I think it is innate to women that we want to be pretty, it's part of the way God created us to be. Pretty is fine and good, but we need to remember that pretty is on the outside. There is something deeper and richer than "pretty," there is also "beauty". Beauty is God infused. It is not "outward in" but "inward out". Beauty radiates and shines what God has put within you, who God has made you and only you to be. "Beauty" is unfading and trumps "pretty" every time.

1 Peter 3:3-4 puts it this way:

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."

These verses shows us the difference between pretty and beautiful. In the first part we see pretty, which is the outward adornment of hair, jewelry, and clothes. Pretty is how you look. Notice that it does not say outward adornment it bad, it just says don't let your adornment be "merely" outward. I like the word adornment, it makes me think of hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree. You can decorate yourself and hang ornaments on the outside, wear a cute outfit and feel pretty. But don't make it only outward. Don't forget the inside ornaments, for this is where real "incorruptible beauty" is found. Peter tells us to shine beauty by revealing the "hidden person of the heart"; adorn yourself with kindness, gentleness, a quiet spirit. In our overly "offendable" and defensive culture we think a quiet spirit means women can't talk, but to me it signals a peaceful spirit, not frazzled and frantic but content and trusting. Earrings are pretty on the outside, but having a gentle grace about you shines a more radiant beauty to the world. It is in the hidden person of the heart where we find true beauty, where we possess an unfading beauty that cannot be tainted by wrinkles or needing to lose an extra 5 pounds.

God is a God of beauty, in case you have failed to notice. He has woven beauty into everything His hand has created. In every sunrise and sunset, in the unique and ever changing painting of the sky, in the creation of animals and wildlife, trees and flowers, in the face of each child and person that we encounter, beauty abides. God, the creator of all beauty, creates beauty within us. Beauty is woven into who you are and who He has made you to be. It is not something you have to become, rather it is revealing, unearthing something that is already inside of you, because God placed it within you.

Have you seen those geology kits for kids? The package contains a gemstone that is hidden in the middle of a rock. The kids must chip away the rock to reveal the gemstone hidden within. They rub off what is of little value to reveal what is beautiful inside. There are all different kinds of gemstones that might be inside. Depending on the gem that you get, it will look different, but each different type of stone is valuable and beautiful when you unearth it from the rock.

I'm pretty sure you see where I am going with this. God places beauty within us like the gemstones in the rock. We have to work to unearth it, we have to chisel away what is hiding it, but it is there inside if we will reveal it. Your gemstone is probably different than mine, but each one has their own beauty, worth and value. As it says in the 1 Peter verse listed above, the beauty God has placed in you "...is very precious in the sight of God."

I am reminded of Psalm 139 where David writes about the personal and intimate ways that God created him. Listen to a little bit of the language:

"For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows full well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. (Ps 139:13-16)

God made me, He made you, on purpose. (This is one of my kids' favorite phrases to use right now in getting each other in trouble...Mom, he hit me ON PURPOSE!!) God did not make you by accident or mistake, He wove you together by His own hand. Your body, your personality, were all custom designed by the one who made the mountains, the seas, and the stars. He made you skillfully, His work in making you is marvelous. Now, we may still drool in our sleep and have bad hair days, we may have some bad habits we need to "chisel away"...but you were designed intentionally and you are wonderfully made! God has hidden specific gemstones within you. God created you with great beauty.

So what is this beauty that God hides within us? The beauty that He places in us are ultimately attributes that reflect Him. Love, mercy, joy, kindness, patience, grace, compassion, thoughtfulness, creativity, leadership, zeal, humor, trust, faith. I could go on for pages and pages and barely scratch the surface of the many attributes of God. I will put it this way, every ounce of everything good comes from God. He places traces of His attributes within people so that we can see them and get a little glimpse of the God who created people (and all things). As you see the heart of an artist through their work, we see the heart of God reflected in the people He creates. None of us reflect the whole Person of God, but each are like a little but significant piece of the puzzle. When we reflect the attributes He placed within us, when we shine true beauty from within, we reflect a facet of who God is to the world.

While we all love to feel beautiful and special, and indeed we are, there is a deeper purpose to our beauty than us just feeling good about ourselves. This is not just a rah-rah self esteem building "Be You-tiful" kind of post. God has an extremely significant purpose for Beauty. Beauty is ultimately about reflecting God to the world and bringing Him glory!

God, the creator of all things (John 1:1-3), created beauty within creation and within us for the purpose of making Himself known and glorifying Himself.

Romans 1:20-21 reflects this about creation:

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.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

God has made Himself visible through the world He created, and the intent is that when we see Him and His invisible qualities (attributes) through the beauty of His creation we are to glorify Him (although in this passage we see the people failing to do so).

From Isaiah we have insight into why God has created us:

Isaiah 43:7 says, "Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes I have made him."

God created us intentionally to be beautiful, we are wonderfully made. He formed us with a purpose, and that purpose is for our beauty to reflect Him, to make Him known, and to bring Him glory.

Your beauty is directly related to the glory of God. So the next time you look in the mirror and are tempted to think only about being pretty...your wrinkles and your make up...remember that there is a deeper, unfading, incorruptible beauty that God has placed within you. Work on that beauty! Identify it, chisel away what is hiding it, and shine it for all to see, for in doing so you bring glory to the One who placed it within you.

• Maybe God has created you to be a woman of faith but it is covered up by fear and worry. Unearth the faith within you, for it brings glory to God.

• Maybe God has made you with compassion and a heart to help others. But your job and your schedule keep you so busy you don't have time to stop and do all the things you would love to do. Chisel away the rock, work to reflect the compassion within you for it shows the compassion of God to the world.

• Maybe your words are meant to build and encourage others. But you have kids and people around you that are constantly frustrating you, and so this gemstone is buried by words of frustration, impatience, shame, a raised voice. The beauty of encouragement is covered up by discouragement. Dig it out. Just because God made you with this gift of beauty within you doesn't mean you don't have to work on it!! Scrape away until your gemstone is revealed, for in doing so you bring glory to the One who placed it within you!

I have so much more I would like to say, but I want to leave you with a few questions.

• How am I tempted to focus more on being pretty than revealing beauty?

• Do I really believe that God has made me beautiful?

• What "gemstones" has God placed within me? Which of His attributes has He placed within me?

• What do I need to work on chiseling away to greater reflect the beauty God has placed within me?

• How will embracing and reflecting this beauty bring glory to God?

Writing this post has completely changed my perspective on beauty. It has been extremely challenging and yet encouraging to me, even as I write. I hope it does the same for you. Know that God has created you beautiful for an incredible purpose. Now go and shine your beauty as only you can do, that in doing so you may shine the Source of all goodness, beauty and love to the world and bring glory and honor to Him.