We live in a world obsessed by beauty. You see ads for beauty products and billboards for body-building EVERYWHERE!!! But what is it, really?

The media wants us to believe beauty is defined by the clothes you wear, how skinny or tall you are, the makeup you put on,  the color of your hair or eyes. They have a very distorted view!!!!  In the words of Justin Young:

“Beauty lies in who you are when no one is watching, the person you are when there’s nothing to hide behind. No amount of concealer can cover up a cantankerous heart, but all the make-up in the world can’t add a single lumen to the brightness of a beautiful soul.”

Beauty is about .having complete confidence in yourself, even if you don’t meet the standards of how others expect you to look. It’s a matter of whether or not your heart is in the right place.

We have been sold the lie that looks are everything, but that’s simply not true! You are beautiful because you are a creation of God. Comparing yourself to others who are “prettier” is like comparing one flower to other totally different flowers in the field. It’s unfair, because they’re each beautiful in their own unique ways. 

My mom told me a story that she invented. It goes like this: A person was looking at a painting in a museum. Suddenly, someone else walked beside them and asked, “What do you think of that painting up there?” The other quickly responded, “I don’t like it at all. It’s absolutely hideous!” The stranger pondered this and said, “I painted that”. He then walked away.  

When I hear this story, I cannot imagine how disappointed, sad, and shocked the painter must have been and how the onlooker must have immediately regretted giving that terrible feedback. My mom told me that this story illustrates how God feels when you want your body to be different. 

Sean Covey, an author, talks about two mirrors, the social mirror and the true mirror. He says the social mirror is external – it’s based on what others say about your image, it comes from the media, and from comparisons you make about yourself to others. The true mirror is based on the REAL you, your personal best, and is based on conscience and self-awareness. Which mirror are you using? 

I used to look at myself through the dirty and cracked social mirror. The one thing that I disliked about my looks in particular was my hair. It was kinky, curly, and bounced with each step I took, but other girls had straight or wavy hair, and I wanted to be like them. Thanks to my mom, I have been able to learn to LOVE my hair. I’m sure you might have some part of your appearance that you don’t like, and  I extend to you an invitation to work on loving yourself, every inch!

In a survey, teens were asked the top things they would change about themselves. The number one response is that they wanted to be better looking. I was shocked by these results, but I know that this can change if we alter the definition of beauty in our society.

How can you make yourself more beautiful?

Think about these beauty tips:

For attractive lips,

speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes,

seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure,

 share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, 

let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with knowledge that you’ll never walk alone.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

The figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes\

Because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides.

~ Sam Levenson

Pick one of these “beauty tips” to work on, and you’ll be surprised. Remember, it’s good to be concerned about outer beauty, but  avoid becoming so obsessed with your appearance that you forget about being pretty inside. 

Whether we choose to enhance or erase our inner beauty is totally up to us, so let’s strive for the beauty inside of ourselves, because once there is beauty inside, it can’t help but spreading outside of you, too!  

What will you do to be more beautiful?

[elyssa]