What God Declares As Beauty

       Just me :)

My 6-year-old son has asked me a very good question a few times.  It's a question I have had a difficult time answering.

"Mom, why do you put on make-up?"  
"Well.... It's just something I like to do sometimes."  
"But why?"  
"Ummm....."

That's a good question.  

To give you a clear picture, most days I do not wear any make-up.  I only wear it may be 3 days a week - at best.  I usually go to the store without "painting" my face, and don't think twice about it.  Bet even then, my first thoughts to his question?  They are thoughts I would never tell my son.  But they are the thoughts I show him with my actions:  Because I like the way I look with make-up on better than the way I look without it.  Because I don't look good if I don't wear it.  Because I want Jordan to think I'm REALLY pretty.  (Which, by the way, my hubby has told me many times that he thinks I'm pretty without any make-up on at all.  He is a gem!)  Because.....  The truth of the matter is, I'm not content with the way God made me in my own skin.  That is the truth for most people, don't you agree?  Because our culture declares that our greatest worth is only skin deep.  

I think about the different glamour magazines that sit in the check-out lanes.  A number of times the covers have read something along the lines of "Celebrities Without Make-up:  What They Really Look Like".  The before pictures are usually of the celebrities in their pajamas, with total bed head, having weird expressions on their faces.  NOT one that truly shows what they look like on an every day basis (besides when they first wake up may be :) ).  I mean, come on, they've gotta show how drastically "ugly" theses celebs look in comparison to the other picture where make-up artists, hair stylists, and fashion designers have completely altered their raw beauty - not to mention the photo shop technicians who digitally fix the noses that are "too long", the stomach that is "sticking out a bit too much", the cheeks that have "too many freckles", etc....  These "fixed" pictures are what we want to strive for.  Right?  We should be something other than ourselves.  Right?

What a sad lie to pass down to our children.  What does God, the creator of our inmost being, the one who says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, have to say???


1 Peter 3:3-4

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."

Proverbs 31:25-30

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

This is what I get to pass down to my children.   This is the truth that I want them to believe.  Not the lies of our materialistic and fleshly world.  The wives my sons seek out someday should have this kind of beauty.  I pray this is what they desire.

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Just to be clear, I do not believe that wearing make-up is wrong.  But the strong emphasis that is placed on it, is wrong.  The WORTH that people find it, is wrong.  The heart that is often behind it, is wrong.  The downplay on what truly makes a person beautiful, is wrong.