so-called BEAUTY

~written two years ago~

 

Uncomfortable.

This is the feeling that I get when reading Christian articles about beauty. Because somehow, and in some way, the article is pointed straight back to me concerning my beauty, and how I’m one of a kind. How I shouldn’t let media paint my picture.

These articles seem to say that I am more beautiful than the world. I am more beautiful than Hollywood stars. I am more beautiful than my size. I am simply a beauty living in a Creation so far gone from its Creator. All I truly know is that I am nothing. I am wretched. At the very core of me is an ugliness that I haven’t even fully realized.

But

Christ has made the difference in me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made ,and this does not make me some holy, righteous model of our so-called Christian beauty. It makes me a lovingly sculpted child of the Creator, and this is far deeper than our version of beauty and being beautiful. Because beauty in the “Christian world” has somehow become just as plastic and fake as beauty in the “media world.”

Because Christian girls are still fighting for acceptance, and they are still looking for someone to deem them beautiful.

Because it is no longer about being fearfully and wonderfully made, it’s about how satisfied we feel in being made this way.

Because somehow, even our “Christ-like” view of beauty is twisted and selfish. The reality is, beauty will never accept you.

Because it was never meant to be our god. It was never meant to be ours. The truth is, you were not made for acceptance in any part of this world. You were made for adoption by the King of kings.

Maybe it’s time that we strive for something else. Because our twisted view of beauty has never been the point of life. And this disillusioned beauty will fail us every time.

Maybe, we should be more concerned about living for God.

Maybe, our gaze should be turned upward instead of inward.

Maybe, the only mirror we need is God’s Word.

Maybe, beauty was meant to be unattainable, because it was never meant to be satisfying. And maybe, we should even thank society for its gnarled view of beauty. Because here it has become clear that real beauty doesn’t exist without Christ.

I don’t want to hear about how beautiful I am despite the media. I want to hear about the One who made me. I want to marvel at the truth that God made me.

In the end, it’s not about how fearfully and wonderfully made I am. It is that God chose to  make me fearfully and wonderfully. He did so in His image, and fully for His glory.

Any beauty that we have does not belong to us, even if we are Christians. Any beauty that others perceive in us is not because of us. Any physical beauty, and any beauty within our hearts is not owned by us. All of beauty, all of you, and all of me belongs solely to our God.

So maybe—

We should write about the Creator instead of the created.