The Beauty of a Woman

"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."
1 Peter 3:3-4


This verse seems to be completely contrary to everything that women are taught in this society. We have forgotten that true beauty comes from our inner selves, from the person that God created. Instead, we think that beauty is what a woman looks like. If you open any magazine you will see that the ideal for beauty is very tall, extremely thin, big eyes, big lips, a small nose. tan skin and big breasts. As women, we look at this and think "I must look like this if I am going to be beautiful. I don't measure up. I must not be beautiful" The truth, however, is that the people in the magazines have gone through hours of hair and makeup and the pictures have had extensive airbrushing. We're trying to measure up to something that isn't even real. The Dove Campaign for True Beauty did a survey of women around the world and of the woman that answered, only 2% of them considered themselves beautiful. Why? I believe it is because we have confused looks with beauty. We assume that because something looks good on the outside, that it must be beautiful. The realiy of it, however, is that it is just an illusion.
I believe what this verse said. True beauty comes from the inner self. Our beauty is our culture and where we have come from. Our beauty is our history and what God has brought us through that has made us who we are. Our beauty is our quirks. It is our goals and accomplishments. Our beauty is our realationships, those around us that we impact. Our beauty is in the fact that we are children of God, daughters of the King. Our beauty is in the love of Christ that radiates from within us. And none of those things can be judged by a photograph.
God has created each of us as beautiful, yet I think we sometimes cover up our true beauty for looks that fade. Don't get me wrong, I don't see anything wrong with doing our hair and makeup and wanting to lose weight (if its to be healthy). I don't see anything wrong with wanting to dress nice. I love to do my hair and makeup and I want to get into better shape. However, I don't believe that God wants us to obsess over these things thinking that they will make up beautiful. I believe that God wants our beauty to radiate from our relationship with Him, our inner beauty, which never fades.