Beautiful

Beauty, What does beauty look like to you? "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" Have you heard that before? I have and sometimes I wonder what is beauty to God? What makes me beautiful? Here are a few verses I found about what God thinks is beautiful....

1 Peter 3:3-5 (NLT)

³ Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 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. ⁵ This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT)

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Proverbs 20:29 (NLT)

²⁹ The glory of the young is their strength;
the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

Proverbs 31:30 (NLT)

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised

Those are some inspiring verses. God thinks our beauty comes from within! Honestly this is something I have struggled with since I was a teenager. I have always wanted to physically be beautiful and I know my husband and my family think I am but sometimes I don't think I am. After having two kids and three pregnancies in two years I for sure don't have the perfect body. Yes I try to eat right, exercise, lose weight, wear make-up, do my hair and dress nice, but no matter what it still doesn't make me beautiful because its what is on the inside that counts! So this brings me to the next point, what is the perfect woman? What does God want our lives to be like as a woman of God? What kind of wife? What kind of mother? This chapter I am going to share with you is close to my heart and the Lord revealed it to me quite some time ago. I have really been striving for this but I know that it takes time and I am not perfect, but I pray that God will make me a Proverbs 31 woman! If I can be this not only will I be beautiful but I will be pleasing to God!!

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NLT)

^{10 [a]}Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

¹³ She finds wool and flax
and busily spins it.
¹⁴ She is like a merchant’s ship,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household
and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.

¹⁶ She goes to inspect a field and buys it;
with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker.
¹⁸ She makes sure her dealings are profitable;
her lamp burns late into the night.
¹⁹ Her hands are busy spinning thread,
her fingers twisting fiber.
²⁰ She extends a helping hand to the poor
and opens her arms to the needy.
²¹ She has no fear of winter for her household,
for everyone has warm^[b] clothes.
²² She makes her own bedspreads.
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
²³ Her husband is well known at the city gates,
where he sits with the other civic leaders.
²⁴ She makes belted linen garments
and sashes to sell to the merchants.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity,
and she laughs without fear of the future.
²⁶ When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness.
²⁷ She carefully watches everything in her household
and suffers nothing from laziness.
²⁸ Her children stand and bless her.
Her husband praises her:
²⁹ “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world,
but you surpass them all!”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;
but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.
³¹ Reward her for all she has done.
Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.