ARE YOU MADE UP OR PRAYED UP?

Our culture today is fixated on outward appearances.  Hollywood and the Holy Word’s definition of feminine beauty definitely conflict.  The female stars we see on TV or in the movies seem to all have the Paris Hilton look:  tall, thin, blond hair, way too much makeup and severely underdressed.   Sadly, even Christian women today are just as guilty as non-Christians when it comes to emphasizing the outward, not the inward, and I am guilty as well.  There is so much emphasis put on what we look like on the outside, that we often forget that we should be cultivating our inner beauty or Christ-likeness daily. 

One of my favorite Scripture verses is I Peter 3:3-4 which says, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, 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.”  In other words, we are not to be preoccupied with our outward appearance, as the pagans were, but modesty in dress is emphasized so that our inner self outshines our outer self.  God is not as concerned with our outward appearance as much as our inner attitude, and our attitude is reflected in the way we dress.  Do we spend more time in the morning in Bible reading and prayer or standing in front of the mirror applying our makeup?  In all honesty, I’m sure most of us would say we spend much more time getting made up than prayed up.

A few years ago, the Holy Spirit made me aware that my inner beauty was in dire need of a face lift.  The fruit of the Spirit qualities found in Galatians 5:22-23 were missing from my life.  I confessed my sins and began to humbly pray that God would change me and create in me a pure heart.  Isn’t it good to know that “the Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, NIV)?

Dear Jesus, help our inner beauty to shine for You!