Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

Last night I was reminded of the phrase "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". It made me think of flowers, and how they are considered a subject of beauty. When you go to pick a flower, which one will you choose? Naturally we will pick the flower that we deem is the most beautiful of the bunch.

This made me think. How do we define beauty? When you say someone or something is beautiful, what are we truly saying?

The Oxford dictionary defines beauty/ beautiful as "pleasing the senses or the mind aesthetically". We see so many beauty advertisements during any given day, so much so that there are too many to count. Between make-up, hair and facial products, clothing, accessories, jewellery and so much more! This doesn't just affect women, but men also want to look aesthetically pleasing, right? (gotta get those ladies attention). This puts pressure on each of us. Almost forcing us to think that we must look better.

However!

Are we being too close minded? Being self conscious of how we look all the time is tiring, and stressful. Constantly comparing ourselves to the prettiest women or the best looking lads about.

So let's take a minute and see what Our Beholder thinks of us.

"[F]earfully and wonderfully made" - Psalm 139:14

God made us in His wonderful image! Don't forget that. He knew and loved us even before we were born. I think that is incredible.

• So God thinks we are Wonderful!

"he is a new creature" - 2 Corinthians 5:17

We have become as new and fresh. We have been made whole through Christ's precious blood. No matter what we do, if we ask for repentance God is forgiving, He will forgive us, but we also have to remember he is just and will punish sin. However every time he looks at us, he sees his children that he created and has made a pathway for each of us.

• God sees us as new! He sees no mistakes, no sin (after forgiveness).

"ye are chosen" - 1 Peter 2:9

God wants you. He longs to spend eternity with us. The King of kings and Lord of lords wants to share his perfect kingdom with you. I cannot wait to spend eternity with Christ who loved me so much that he suffered and died for me. That is some amount of love!

• God wants you in His heavenly kingdom

v1 "Behold you are beautiful, my love, behold you are beautiful!",

v7"You are altogether beautiful, my love, there is no flaw in you". - Song of Solomon 4:1+7

That's right God has called you beautiful! Not just once, twice, but three times in just this one chapter. Let's face it I'm not going to argue with him. From head to toe, God thinks his people are beautiful. This makes me smile so much. God knows that we need this constant repetition to remind us that we are His beautiful creation. Even still we forget it.

• God thinks we are so beautiful!

"You are precious in my eyes" - Isaiah 43:4

We are so special to Him. Like a precious stone of a great price. So why compare ourselves to earthly things and start comparing yourself to heavenly things.

• God thinks we are precious

I don't know about you, but I am feeling pretty special right now. I could go on and on, but I think we know now that God really loves and cares for us. We are his chosen flowers. He plucked us out from a lost eternity and gave us new life, an eternal life. It is not just what is on the outside, but what we have on the inside that really truly counts. I know, you probably think I sound like a broken record, but I myself questioned my own beauty for a while. I was annoyed that someone I really loved could't love me back. Why? What was soo wrong with me that I couldn't be loved? I forgot one thing. GOD LOVES ME! I shouldn't need a man to love me because God is my first love. He is my example, teacher, and friend. Yes I am still low on self-esteem, but I am learning to trust Christ more everyday in the fact that he holds me in his arms

"His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me" Song of Solomon 2:6.

After my last relationship, I have learned to love my friends more. Spending so many weeks with them over the summer has been a great help to my healing. We studied 1 Peter together and it was such a blessing! I learnt so much from them all. It also provoked self evaluation. Looking at my progress I have to admit, I am not back to the excitable and joyful self, that I was before. I will get there someday. Most importantly I have learnt that the only perfect man is Christ. No earthly man can ever be the same as Him. So let's just learn to love Christ more each day. You never know, I might even learn to be content with that.

Let me know in the comments section of verses that remind you of how beautiful are are to Christ. Or verses that you find comforting when you are feeling a little down. Please don't be shy, I would love to hear from you.

Yours truly,

Winnie xo