True Beauty

3 Your adornment must not be merely external—with interweaving and elaborate knotting of the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or [being superficially preoccupied with] dressing in expensive clothes; 4 but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God (Amplified version). 1 Peter 3:3-4

“Beauty is only skin deep,” this is a phrase I grew up hearing on an almost constant basis; whether at home, school or in the neighbourhood.

Being the naïve youngster that I was, I believed that beauty had something to do with the color of one’s skin. I was constantly teased about being “red”, or “yellow” or “white”, and when I complained about it, I was told not to worry, because “they” were only jealous. Needless to say it was confusing to me.

Sad to say, as I got older things just got more complicated. In high school not only was beauty equated with the color of a person’s skin, now we added hair (length and texture), facial attractiveness and let’s not forget the body type and or shape! Beauty was quickly being categorized solely in physical attributes.

Now in the age of the internet, cable and satellite television there is increased exposure to what the larger world defines beauty to be. You have fashion models starving themselves or taking drugs to become so rail thin that if a brisk wind were to blow it would knock them over. There are so many makeover shows you can’t count them all. I would not even talk about cosmetics companies and their ‘beauty products’. All of this reinforces the notion that you are only considered beautiful if you fit into a particular category.

The world we live in seeks to almost brainwash us into believing that, that saying of yesteryear is true, beauty is only skin deep. But I am grateful that there are guidelines in God’s word that explain and give clarity and perspective on what beauty truly is. Thanks to 1 Peter 3:3-4 I now know what beauty means; my quest is over.

It has nothing to do with skin color, body shape, hair length, it is all about what attributes are inside: your personality, your spirit man, your compassion towards a fellow sister or brother. I have found peace knowing that God will judge my true beauty by my actions toward others, my compassion, my love, my overall personality, the words that I speak and by my spirituality. I remind myself every time I start to look at myself in an unflattering way, that God has made me just as I am, and in His sight I am the most beautiful creature He has made. He loves me, “flaws” and all. My outward appearance will change as time goes on, and the traditional beauty will fade, but my inner beauty - time will have no effect on this. As a matter of fact, inner beauty just gets better with time!

Ladies, focus on your inner beauty, look for the hidden qualities/treasures God has placed in all of us. It is said that ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and God beholds us every day that we live, so we are undeniably beautiful.