True Beauty

Beauty: A combinations of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, esp. the sight.
I hate to admit that I hate the word... I guess it's probably because of the importance we put on beauty and the fact that according to magazines and television and movies I don't fit into that category. Have you ever seen a movie that features a 5'5, overweight, dark, curly headed girl who is probably the worst flirter on earth(but that's for another post, another day)? I would dare to venture no... and do you ever see movies about really short girls or awkwardly tall girls or girls without a perfect complexion, or girls that are ridiculously skinny? Probably Not...
 So what is beautiful? I can tell you what people are trying to tell us is beauty... Hollywood is trying to sell us this fake, computer generated, plastic surgery version of beautiful... they are trying to tell us that unless we meet a certain criteria, which few women seem to meet, we are not beautiful... Well ya know what- I am stinking tired of it! I am tired of looking in the mirror and seeing my flaws. I am tired of putting on a shirt, seeing a bit of extra flab and thinking, 'great, what guy will look at me now?' and I am super tired of watching movies and thinking, 'If I looked like her I would be able to 'get a man too', I would feel better'... Excuse my french but what a load of bull! And I (a smart, realistic person, if I do say so my self) allow myself to believe these lies?! What have I been thinking?!?!
I am BEAUTIFUL!!! And guess what... it has nothing to do with what I look like on the outside (though I would like to believe that God designed me that way on purpose ; ) It has everything to do with what God is doing on the inside... I have ugly days and it has nothing to do with bad makeup... It has a lot to do with putting myself in front of God and his will for my life...
I want to be beautiful and I want people to like my outer beauty... but mostly I want people to be able to see my heart shining for the Lord, my God, who made me just like He wants me...
I believe it's in 1 Samuel that God says, 'Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.' I can tell you one thing... God's opinion should mean a whole lot more to me than any silly man... I'm still working on that. I'm definitely not perfect and I definitely don't always think I'm beautiful, but God does...
You know what, you are beautiful... I need to remember to tell people that, to remind them of their worth and their beauty (girls especially, I'm not sure how well that would be received by guys!) It's too easy to forget in our society what true beauty really is...
True Beauty is God working in someone.... and shining through them...