According to the popular saying, “A good character is far better than the physical beauty.” This is true in all ways. The outward beauty can attract people, it is inevitable because people love those who appear beautiful but the moment they find out that the character is not good, they get irritated. The human being looks at the beauty of people to judge but is that what God looks? What we take as beauty is not God look at to judge. The way God thinks are different from the way we think as a human being. Let’s tell God to make us see the true beauty today.
1 Peter 3:3 “Your beauty should not come from outward adornments, 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.”
King Saul disobeyed God and God rejected him immediately. God decided to anoint another person to be the king of Israel; He called Samuel the prophet to go into the house of Jesse and get a king there. When Samuel got there, he looked at the sons of Jesse, they were good looking and they seem to look like they have strength but God told him in 1 Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” if God was looking at the physical appearance like human being do, David would have never been anointed to be the king, Joshua would have not been selected to lead the children of Israel. There are many people that God would have not used.
Someone said, “Physical beauty without the strength of character is like a robust coconut with a black content – it is of no value.” We look so much on the physical beauty that will fade with time and we spend much time adorning the physical appearance rather than the heart. God looks at the heart first because that’s what he needed most, the body is just ash to him. There is nothing greater than a man in this world and there is nothing truly greater in man but character. A good character with the knowledge of Christ is the true beauty and it attracts favor with God and man.
We can also relate true beauty with righteousness. We need to understand the value of inner beauty. The inner beauty is unfading; you don’t need any cosmetics to make it beautiful. When you are distinguishing between things that last and things that don’t, the inner beauty lasts longer than the physical beauty. Jesus is the source of true beauty, that’s why we need to depend on him today and ask him to beautify us. A righteous life is a beautiful life – this is the kind of people God sees as “beautiful.” We must not deceive ourselves, we cannot claim to be beautiful in our hearts and yet do things that are not glorifying God. Proverbs 23:7a “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” If your habit is not glorifying God, then your heart is in no way pure or beautiful.
One example of a physical beauty that perished because of lack of inward beauty is Absalom. 2 Samuel 14:25 “Now in all Israel there was no one who was praised as much as Absalom for his good looks. From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, there was no blemish in him.” He received a wrong counsel from Ahithophel. The lack of inner beauty cost him his life.
Reflection questions
- Do I have the true beauty?
- Am I living a righteous life that God will delight in and love me for it or am I just living and not thinking about living righteously?
- What am I celebrating in my life? the outward beauty of the inward beauty?
- Are people okay with the way I behave and most importantly, is God okay with the way I behave?
Prayer of the day
Lord, I desire to live righteously, I desire to beautify my life and make my heart pure. I can do all of these by my power, I am trusting for help – help me to focus on beautifying my spiritual life, help me to adjust my behavior and stop behaving in a way that you are not pleased with. I don’t want to be like a coconut with no value, I don’t want rust inside and smell bad. Teach me the right way to true beauty. Amen.