Real Beauty

"but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart
with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which in God’s sight is very precious."  - 1 Peter 3:4

It's hard getting old, y'all.  It's hard to push back the gray hairs that peak at the crown of your precious head.  It's hard covering up the "spots" that have suddenly welcomed themselves to the tops of your cheek bones.  It's hard finding those ornate arrangements of veins on the sides of your legs, and the the spider-like connection they have to your feet.  It's really hard to switch make-up brands to the "good stuff" because that cheap stuff at the local pharmacy isn't touching the shadows under your eyes.  It's hard.

It's hard being "beautiful" in the world.  "Frumpy" is a term I'm most familiar with and ironically the most comfortable with, until I leave the house and realize I should have at least showered before hitting the grocery store!  It's hard.

You know what else?  It's hard on our loving Father in heaven to see us strain to obtain "beauty" as per our culture's demands.

The merciless standards that we impose on ourselves to have a fresh face and a shining head of Paul Mitchell, are not God's; they've never been so.  God is so much more forgiving than that.  So much more gracious!  So much more realistic and logical!  Hallelujah and amen to that!
He sets a lifestyle of beauty per His love and compassion on the weakness and frailty of women.  Even those in magazines!

With God, it's all about the issues of the heart.  The why's, what's, how's of our behavior on the outside are motivated and run by the heart - that place that God chooses to dwell.  In fact, I've not once seen a scriptural "heroine" born from wealth, success, strength, power, health, or good looks.  Jochebed, Naomi, Ruth, Esther, Tamar, Rahab... and more.  These ladies may have been attractive, but according to God, they had the heart.  They had a heart for God.  They had a heart to worship Him, and see His purposes fulfilled.

Being concerned with the "inner man," or in our case, "inner woman," is of much more significance than bothering ourselves with outward presentation.  No amount of "adornment" can equate the preciousness of the heart as God sees it.  He looks WAY down into the core of us to work us from the inside out; from the roots to the fruits!

With "Girl Power" Stamps, any mixture of facial features creates a unique "person."
Paper piecing brought these ladies off the page a bit, and will go into my
Bible journaling crafting! So much fun!

"But the LORD said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance, or at the height of his stature...for God sees not as man sees; for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart."  1 Samuel 16:7

Peter, in his book, is simply re-iterating a long-standing doctrine; a piece of our theology.  If we miss this super important facet of God's character, we won't see Him or worship Him as we ought.  In fact, the sad opposite is true: we'll begin worshiping self, and being preoccupied with self.  

Because the LORD looks at the heart, the inner adornment of women is so key!  It's so vital - it's part of God's love language toward us!  He loves us regardless of what we wear, or how much jewelry dangles from our necks.  He's so much more in love with that inner person He created, and the beauty that He's made possible through it!

If you wanna chat more about it, comment below and let's get this "girl power" party started!!

MUCH love,

Deeds

**All alpha stamps used are from Sweetnsassystamps.com (Skinny Lower Case, Teeny Alpha, Classy Script Alpha)!!

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