What Is Beautiful?预览

But am I truly beautiful?

When have you felt beautiful (trying on high-heels, senior prom…), and what may’ve contributed to that (I weighed ___, my boyfriend’s gaze, etc.)? 

When have you felt the opposite of beautiful (too __, or too __)?

Women are the last mentioned in God’s created order, and arguably the most complex of His creativity, in a phenomenal sort of way. “She shall be called woman,” God proudly proclaimed in Genesis 2:23. We were His finishing touch, God’s icing on the cake of creation! 

As we realized in Day 1, all true beauty flows from beauty’s Maker, God. He is beauty’s immediate & ultimate architect and summation. So what does that mean for us then, as women crafted by God in His beautiful image?

Being “made in the image of God” means I am a unique image-bearer of God’s beauty! WOW. Sure, feeling pretty and not bloated may help, but when all is said and done, our beauty simply is. When I am me, I am beautiful, because when I am me, I am imaging God’s thoughtful design of me.

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you. (ESV)

Furthermore, God can’t help but delight in and be fascinated by our beauty—the unique beauty of Himself imaged in us. That’s quite a compliment, eh!

But we tend to forget this; we forget who He is, and we forget who we are. And yet “practicing His presence” can always take us back to these marvelous realities.

DO THIS: LETTING GOD LOOK AT YOU 

“To pray is to descend with the mind into the heart, and there to stand before the face of the Lord, ever-present, all-seeing, within you.” Russian Mystic, Theophan the Recluse

Find a comfortable place that feels safe to you. Maybe light a candle, or crawl under your favorite comforter. For the next few minutes, we’re going to “Practice God’s presence.” You can’t get this “right” or “wrong”; the goal is simply to notice with God whatever comes up (shameful or delightful). Maybe a memory comes to mind, or a passage of Scripture; simply notice it with God, abide in the arms of his love.