Susan Boyle was a simple, middle-aged woman from Scotland who didn’t seem to amount to much. She was disliked by most and even given the nickname “Susie Simple” in grade school. But her love for music was a growing passion for her. She decided to take a shot at winning $200,000 on the hit show Britain’s Got Talent. Some of you may remember when she appeared on stage and your first reaction. If it was anything like the audience and judges, you were not alone. Susan was simple. She was not pretty or pleasant to look at. In fact, the audience treated her more like a joke. But when she opened her mouth the crowd went wild and the judges were humbled. Her voice resonated through the entire building and was nothing short of beautiful. She proved everyone wrong.
There is a common lie that Satan often whispers in the ears of young ladies – Beautiful women are worth more. In today’s western culture beauty seems to be everything. If you want to be liked, important, respected, successful, etc, you must be physically beautiful. TV shows, magazines, and billboards all focus on girls having the perfect face and shape and behind every perfect woman is success. The world says that beauty equals success but they forget that physical beauty is temporary.
For some of us it’s easy to say, “Well, God looks on my heart and sees my inward beauty so I don’t have to take care of my physical appearance.” I don’t believe that the Lord desires for women at any age to take that approach on life. Many godly women in the Bible were called physically beautiful by God. Although physical appearance should not be neglected (yes, homeliness in not next to godliness), the truth is that a woman who loves the Lord and puts Him first in their lives WILL be beautiful both inside and out.
For the rest of us it’s easy to believe the lies of Satan. There is an underlying sense that if you don’t meet a certain standard of “beauty,” you don’t have value or you don’t matter. If we believe this lie of the devil, we can render ourselves ineffective for the cause of Christ. If a woman doesn’t think she’s beautiful, she developes insecurities. Those insecurities can magnify over time and suddenly all the focus goes to self. Many insecurities that are developed during the teenage years continue into the adult years. You cannot serve two masters – either you will accept yourself (outward appearance) as God’s masterpiece, or you will live a selfish life always being dissatisfied.
If you struggle with giving this area to God, first, pray: ask the Lord to give you contentment in all aspects of your life. Second, seek His Word: find encouragement and strength by looking up verses specific to how God views you. (Psalm 139:14) Third, abstain from discouraging sources: TV shows, magazines, internet, self-focused friends, etc will never encourage you to be content in Christ and with your life. Last, correct your focus: get busy serving the Lord and others.
Challenge: Today did you spend more time in front of the mirror, making yourself beautiful on the outside, OR in God’s Word, developing inner beauty of heart and character?
