beautiful.....

I named my blog ..beautiful ,because I wanted to focus on the things of my life that are lovely and excellent, just as Philippians 4:8 encourages us to do."Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

As I've become more intentional about looking for the beauty around me, He is gently showing me that I should also seek to be beautiful. This has been a problem with me, never have I been able to truly align myself with such a word. Not because I didnt think I was pretty, but because "beautiful" holds much more meaning.....pretty is a lot easier to say. :-)

We decorate and polish ourselves to be beautiful based on our own standards of loveliness, everyone does this according to their culture and also depending on who we desire to please the most. In many ways, we all seek beauty and desire to present ourselves this , our homes, and our personal spaces in a way that reveals what we believe to be beautiful.

A special someone in my life, from time to time, tells me that I am beautiful and tries to help me see myself the way the Lord sees me. I want to see myself this way so that I can be secure in myself in order to be confident in who I am in CHRIST!

So I looked to His Word....1 Peter 3:3,4 focuses on meaning of the word beautiful which is this : generally pleasing and excellent. The Word shows me that this kind of beauty is far more important than any other kind of beauty. "Do not let your adorning be external-the braiding of the hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing-but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." Now, obviously we are not being told in this verse that women are not to wear braided hair or jewelry. If that is what this passage is saying, than we cannot put on clothing either! No, I am thinking that this verse is telling us something very important; if we are going to put effort into adorning ourselves (and we are, aren't we!), then we should focus on what God says is beautiful, and purpose in our hearts to please Him. He says that adorning our hearts is more important than adorning our bodies. Because a beautiful spirit is imperishable. So what makes a beautiful spirit? Do I have a beautiful spirit? God says that gentleness and quietness is what makes a woman's spirit beautiful. That's awesome, God! Gentleness is what a women is made of......

We should all seek more after a beautiful heart than a beautiful outward appearance.

I think I can believe that God made me beautiful........