Inward Beauty

By: Grace Metzger

So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created
him, male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:27 ESV

Due to recovering from a surgery, recently I have been unable to do much at all, let alone put any effort into my appearance. I don't wear makeup or jewelry anymore. I don't dress up in my favorite clothes. I used to put a tremendous amount of thought into my appearance, spent hours getting ready everyday. I would even change my clothes five times before deciding on an outfit. I'm telling you all this to make sure you understand how different this last month has been for me. I can't do anything that used to make me feel beautiful. It's hard to love how you look when you're not seeing the same thing in the mirror that you normally do. I won't lie, this brought down my mood terribly.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain. but
a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:30 ESV

I didn't love being a moody person, I didn't want to be like this for the three more months that I was on bed rest. So I went into my Bible app to look up the word beautiful. To be completely honest, I was looking for a verse that would say something like "You're created in God's image so of course you are beautiful." But instead I found Proverbs 31:30. 

To be completely honest, I felt a bit ashamed reading that verse. As someone who tries to put a ton of thought and effort into how to fit into the world's ideas of beauty, it didn't make me feel proud to be read that I was becoming vain. I did a ton of praying and Bible reading that night on what this verse could mean for my life.

I don't believe that makeup, doing your nails, or dressing pretty is a sin in and of itself. I don't think you're being vain if you put on a dress that makes you feel pretty. But this verse is asking me two things: do I idolize my beauty and am I putting as much effort into my relationship with God as I am my looks?

I think those two things can easily mix into one thing in my opinion. Let me explain, when you put hours into getting ready, looking on social media for outfit ideas, spend hundreds of dollar on clothes, are you also doing the same in your relationship with God? Are you praying, spending time in His Word, are you giving Him His tithe? Sometimes we spend so much time on how we look that we start to pull away from what really matters.

Again there is nothing wrong with trying to look nice, but take stock on where and what you're spending your time on. If you're like me it might be a lot of time trying to fit into the world's idea of beautiful. Are you giving God more of your time and thoughts? Has becoming pretty taken more importance in your life then God? Are you actively working towards becoming a woman who fears and loves the Lord? 

It's easy to lie to yourself on those questions. But I challenge you to take time and actually answer those questions honestly. Once you do then it's time to start refocusing your priorities in life. Start trying to find ways to ensure that God is still the most important thing in your life everyday. Once you do you'll notice the question "Am I even beautiful" starts showing up a bit less in your mind, because you are focused on things more important now. Because now you have inward beauty which is much more valuable then outward beauty.