| Beauty |
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| "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." |
| Proverbs 31:30 |
| I have to be honest- when I look in the mirror, I am not always satisfied with what I see. |
| I have a few good features and a few I wish I could fix. |
| Like most girls, I am neither extraordinarily beautiful nor extraordinarily ugly. |
| Sometimes I wonder: what do people see when they look at me? |
| The first thing I think about is that I hope they're not focusing on the negative- jeans that don't fit like they used to, that pimple on my nose, or the evidence from the bags under my eyes that I didn't get enough sleep last night. |
| But when I think more about what people see in me, |
| I realize that I don't necessarily want people to see my outward features at all. |
| Instead of hoping my friends notice my new hairdo, I should spend more time and energy working on the person inside this body. |
| Years from now, nobody will remember what kind of figure I had as a girl. |
| And if they do, they're seeing the wrong part of me. I want to be more than meets the eye. |
| I want to develop into a person who can be respected. |
| I want to have a caring heart for those in need, to love all kinds of people regardless of their actions, to be the kind of person that can be trusted. |
| If I don't work on the inside of me, but rely on makeup and lotions and the right kind of diet to make me "beautiful," is that really even beauty? |
| If I work so hard on making my outward appearance appealing, I am neglecting the part of me that matters most. |
| It's like being hollow inside. |
| When people look at me, I want them to see things that are hard to come by: perseverance, a strong work ethic, respect and love for those around me, and most of all, my commitment to God. |
| My body is just a shell for the character inside. |
| When I realize that and submit to God my desire to be attractive, He shapes in me the character of a person who is truly beautiful. |