Why You Should Challenge Beauty Standards
How do you define beauty? There is physical beauty. There are culturally formed ideals of beauty. There is beauty in nature. There is inner beauty. As you think of all the things you consider beautiful, by what standards do you determine beauty? In nature it’s a sense of wonder, awe and delight that wells up in me that indicates a flower, a sunset, a mountain range, a crashing wave is beautiful to me. The visual evokes an emotion of joy, delight and even gratitude. Beauty as an attitude is why you should challenge beauty standards.
Webster’s dictionary defines beauty this way “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.” We take pleasure in seeing beautiful things, but beauty giving pleasure seems like such a weak description to me. Beauty seems so much more powerful than that when I think about it. Beauty captivates, it draws us in, and it enraptures us.
Why You Should Challenge Beauty Standards
A friend gave me a small decorative mirror as a gift, it’s sweet because at the bottom it says: “You look fabulous” to which she added “Friend.” Mirrors come in pretty handy. What does a mirror do? It’s a silly question to ask. A mirror reflects. Simple. We use them to check our reflections, to see what’s behind us, or to see what’s coming around a corner. We use them to see what we otherwise cannot see.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a mirror?
2 Corinthians 3:18 says: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” As mirrors we reflect the Lord. But where does that start? Because a mirror reflects what it is pointed at. This means in order to reflect His beauty we must point ourselves to Him.
True beauty is an attitude.
It is a transformed heart, mind and soul. True beauty is a reflection of the Lord in us. Our beauty, real pure beauty, can only come from Him. Ann Voskamp says of Beauty “It is the inner work of a soul.”
Audrey Hepburn, one of my favorite actresses has often quoted A Poem by Sam Levenson,
“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman grows with the passing years”.
I love that line in verse 5: “Those who look to him are radiant” (Ps. 34:5} I love that God is the one who gives us our beauty. Each one of us has been made beautiful by Him. As we reflect Him more and more that radiant beauty shines out of us.
1 Peter 3:4 says of Your beauty, that 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.”
Let’s talk about that for a second: “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.” A quiet, gentle spirit is not a personality issue. Outgoing women can have quiet, sweet, trusting hearts. Reserved women can have hearts filled with anger and unkind judgment. Does a quiet gentle spirit mean we have to be boring or unexciting? No way! A quiet and gentle spirit is one that because it has sought the Lord is able to respond with love, grace and gentleness, out of faith and filled with His joy.
RELATED: It’s okay to be a Work in Progress
Why you should challenge beauty standards?
As a young girl I struggled often with the definition of beautiful. I’ve never thought of myself as beautiful in a classical cultural sense of American beauty. But, you know what? I don’t mind. I know I am beautiful. I truly do feel beautiful. I stopped looking for flaws a long time ago. Physical beauty is nice, but I’d much rather be known for inner beauty. I want to reflect Christ. I want the beauty that shines out of me to be because of my precious loving Savior. I want people to see Him.
We are mirrors reflecting Him. That is why we are beautiful.
Draw close to Him. Point yourself to Him so that He is the one you reflect. Run towards Him. Immerse yourself in His Word. Desire Him above all else.
xoxo Naomi
p.s. I wrote a post on Progress and it definitely ties in. I shared that it’s okay to be a work in progress and that one of the ways is to know that you are enough. Do you hear me sweet precious child of God? You are enough. Let Him be all else!!! Read the full post here.
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