Hello friends, this one is for the ladies out there...
Dictionary.com:
Beauty-
the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations, a meaningful pattern or design, or something else such as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest.
a beautiful person, especially a woman
an individually pleasing or beautiful quality; grace; charm
What kind of beauty are we striving for?
What are we striving for? We as women are all holding ourselves to a beauty standard that either we set for ourselves or others set for us. I for my entire life up until this past month (20 years and 2 months) have squared myself up to the standards of beauty that the fashion industry and social media have set for me. I assume you have too. I have had friends in my (short) lifetime look at their toned bodies in the mirror and cut themselves down because they didn't look like Victoria's Secret models. They were healthy, strong, and beautiful with wild hearts and gorgeous life potential but still somehow tragically not good enough because they didn't wear a size 2. Now, I wear a size 2. People have told me my entire life they envy my build. Others (a lot of em' too) have talked down on it because to be this size means either 1. I don't eat, 2. It's my metabolism, and then "I'll see". or 3. I'm weak because I'm skinny, and being weak isn't beautiful. Those kinds of comments sting so deeply. You see, friend, what I'm saying here is that according to the standards of the world.. you will never EVER be good enough. No matter what size you wear. (i know this sounds a bit like "what the heck Mo, thanks, that's really encouraging" or "you have no idea what you're talking about", but keep reading friend. It gets better.) I have looked in the mirror some mornings and loved what I've seen and other days I've wished I could change things ... like my nose. It's bigger than most because of my ethnicity. I'm Indian, so my nose is a bit longer and "beak-like" (haha) than typical American girls with "cute button" noses. This is something I've truly struggled with my entire life. My family used to innocently tease me about it, but it slowly over the years found its way deep into the roots of my self-worth. "I would be pretty IF my nose were smaller." I want to change it but at the same time, I don't. God made me this way... why do I hate it? I work out, and I am healthy... but my facial features are something I can't change naturally. So what do I do about this? What do I do to combat the lies of the enemy when he tells me I'm not beautiful!?!! I prayed and prayed about this and sometimes (most times) argued with God about how the heck I could be a "masterpiece". I sure as hell don't feel like a masterpiece. My idea of what beauty was is like so many others: unattainable physical perfection. Physic, by the way, that ends up changing over the decades, one year big boobs are all the rage, and the next it's a curvy body... beauty is and forever will be versatile and fleeting. So then what is the truth about beauty? Truth can not be changed, but the perception of beauty can. I think rock star P!nk said it best, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." Then if physical beauty is an opinion, WHAT is true beauty?
(cue your mother's voice) Beauty comes from the inside. I went to a mentor about my nose inquiring about how to fight the enemies lies when he tells me I'm not beautiful... and she said, "Well what kind of standard of beauty are you holding yourself to?" wow... let's take a sec. I will truly never measure up if my standards are purely physical. If my standards are "blonde hair, blue eyes, curvy hips, and a button nose" I WILL NEVER BE BEAUTIFUL. But if my standards are resilience, vigor, selflessness, kindness, intelligence, fierceness, and mercy, if my standards are what Proverbs 31 says: a hardworking, lighthearted, brave, and smart woman who has a heart after the lord in every aspect of her life, then those are goals I can strive to attain. Those are the goals the LORD has called me to strive after, to run towards. Those qualities proclaim true and long-lasting beauty. So when I look in the mirror and Satan whispers that I don't measure up to what beauty is, I can stand on a solid rock of truth and say that I do. I can see through his lies. I am washed clean, the lord says I am beautiful. I am truly beautiful because his spirit is within me. That spirit is teaching me to bear the fruits of life that make me STUNNING. And it will NEVER fade (Philip 1:6). Chances are you're not ever going to look into the mirror and see a VS model, but strive to see a woman of God instead. A warrior, a graceful and loving and worthy bride of the King, The Master of the Universe, The Lord of Armies.
And look to the girls to your left and to your right and see the same thing. Stop comparing physic and be encouraged by and encourage your fellow sisters in their journey of refining and defining themselves.
You are beautiful ladies. The man who created and defined honesty and trust said so.
-Mo