Beauty is Only Skin Deep

I have been giving a lot of thought to how I look lately. It isn't only the weight issue, but an age issue also. As I peer into the mirror, I am often surprised at who is looking back. After much thought I have concluded that I need to focus more on what the world really sees instead of just the superficial.

In today's society it is our looks that count the most. We are constantly encouraged to focus on ourselves and how we appear. This has become the focus of everything we see and hear. We are pressured from others, from advertising and by our own self image, to look as good as we can. The measure of who we are and what we are worth is placed in how we look.

But these things are nothing compared to how we really look on the inside. We may shine from without, but our inner person may for the most part be filled with all the ugliness of the world. Our whole nature may not be a pretty sight, but there is hope. There is a small part in each of us that remains enough like our creator that with some effort can push it's way to the outside to be revealed as God's shining glory.

It begins by admitting we have those things within us that are unpleasing to our Lord and accepting Him into our life. With the presence and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we are then ready for the process of becoming the beautiful person God has always intended us to be. Not a superficial beauty, but a deep beauty that goes to the very heart of our souls. One that others will see and want.

Much like plastic surgery, it can be a very painful process at times, but the end product is magnificent. The mighty surgeon carefully cuts, snips, tucks and in the end all the junk of the world is slowly cut away leaving a fresh new you. This is an ongoing process which slowly restores us to what we were intended to look like from the very beginning.

We must be careful not to let ourselves become artificial in the process. Don't think you can get by with making yourself look good forever. God knows your heart. You can put on a good face, but it is what the Spirit has done on the inside that truly counts.

As the Word of God says in Proverbs 31:30, Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.