Beauty is not found in my reflection.

My beauty doesn’t lie in my reflection but in my reflection of God’s love.

In a world full of editing, social media, perfectionism and fakery – beauty has been distorted. Beauty by the world’s standards changes every day. One day big, bold brows are in and the next it’s not. One body shape is hailed whilst all others are put to shame. Beauty hinges itself of on what we look like in the reflection of a mirror. But this is not a media issue, it’s a ‘satan’ issue. Satan is that voice that tells you; you are not pretty enough, you don’t wear the right things, you need to be better, what you see is not normal. Our beauty, our true beauty gets distorted and crushed under the weight of this. If we try and see ourselves as beautiful by any of these standards, we will never truly attain it.

Yet, all of this goes beyond the saying ‘beauty is skin deep’. Just because our focus of beauty is distorted, doesn’t mean we just reject it and only focus on personality. I know this saying can feel like an insult, when you feel less than beautiful, and someone tells you ‘you are beautiful on the inside’. But I don’t think that’s what this saying means ‘Beauty is skin deep’, I think that phrase is saying; don’t look at your reflection and judge it, compare it and bash it. It’s saying hold up! Beauty is not about looks, trends and perfection. Its about a lot more. It’s a starting place to find focus not in the reflection of a mirror, it is changing the way we identify beauty

But, it’s also not about how nice you are on the inside either. Because no matter how nice you are inside, you still won’t be able to love yourself using this definition on beauty. Whether we think we are beautiful based on our reflection in the mirror or based on all the good qualities in our personality, we still lack something. We are still left empty. Satan pits the two against each other – he says you can’t be outwardly beautiful and inwardly beautiful. He says that inward beauty really isn’t beauty at all. He wants to tangle up and confuse us, he wants us to always be trying to reach some unattainable goal. Satan doesn’t want you to know and feel true beauty because he has no place in it.

Maybe you can guess where I am going with this!? Well friends, beauty, true beauty is found in the reflection of the Lord’s face, in God’s love and his Spirit. We were created in God’s image… I will say it again – we were created in God’s image! That’s amazing, the all-powerful, all knowing, high king made us in his image. So, we are beautiful! This isn’t physical or inner beauty; this is creation beauty! We were created in beauty and wonder, and so we are wonderful and beautiful creatures of God. So, where I do think we need to focus beauty? Well, in God! The first steps towards true beauty is identifying that you were made in the almighty image of God.

And what then does God say about our inward and outward beauty? Well he shows us that we are seen as beautiful not by what we wear or how we look; but in how we act and serve him. 1 Peter 3:3-5 says ‘Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, 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. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves.’ God tells us that our true beauty is in our spirit. Do you see here that inward beauty is not just being nice or having the best personality? Beauty is about our spirit inside. If we are full of God’s spirit, then that glow we get from his joy, his grace and his humility, will glow externally too. It is so attractive when we have a spirit that is full of the beauty of the Lord. This doesn’t mean we can’t dress up or enjoy fashion etc! It just means that we shouldn’t place value in those things. It shows us that beauty is not about our reflection in the mirror, but about the reflection of Christ in us.

The bible is also clear that we should guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ So, when we look at beauty as being our reflection or ‘skin deep’, we are not actually talking about true beauty. That beauty is false beauty because it is in satan’s realm. He uses that to mix us up and make us hate what we see. True beauty is knowing and reflecting the Lord in all you do. This beauty of spirit is so powerful that it flows all around us and can come out of us too! This is why satan has no place here, because he cannot stand in the way of the Lord! So, we should guard our hearts against this false beauty. Take care when you weigh too much on your looks or your personality traits. Take the time to recognise the voice, saying all those negative things as satan's voice trying to keep you from your true beauty.

My friend, you are beautiful. God created you! You know we are here for only for a time, because this place is not our home. I know this true beauty is not easy to get a handle on - I am still learning myself! When we resist satan’s voice and false beauty and we look at God, we learn more about his attributes. God is gracious, loving, kind, honest, faithful,beautiful. When we spend time looking at these things, we will see our beauty in them too.

If God made us in his image, and if we are just a fraction like him – well we are mighty beautiful indeed.

Faithfully,

Becky