Where is true beauty found?  In our looks, our jewelry, our homes/cars, our…   I think not!  Then is beauty in the ‘eye of the beholder’?  To some extent, but even that is based on personal bias.  Confucious said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”  In nature, in music, in work, in …  It truly is all around us.  We just have to train ourselves to look.

In the Song of Songs, Solomon tells his bride that she is beautiful because she has no flaws (Song of Songs 4:7).  Our culture is all about that.  If we are thin, rich, youthful, educated and successful we are considered perfect. But is that really what being beautiful is all about?

So what is beauty?   Have you ever met someone that is not physically beautiful but there’s just something about them that draws you in.  I really like the way the New Living Translation says 1 Peter 3:4, “You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”  There it is.  The confident, inner glow, that says I care about you, I know your struggle, I’ve been where you are …  The ability to be appreciative, forgiving and loving marks the beautiful person.

Beauty is not about perfect hair, (I’ve not had a perfect hair day in so long I’ve given up on it.) perfect body shape, perfect attire, perfect words, perfect home, perfect children…  It’s not about perfect anything!  It’s about the willingness to take the focus off yourself and place it on Jesus and those around us.  Only then, are we truly beautiful!

Blessings to you and yours!

Marie

I’m delighted to be writing with many others in response to the 5-Minute Friday word prompt.  You can join us, too!  Check it out at http://fiveminutefriday.com