A Lasting Beauty

"But remember, for all your adult life you'll be a woman. And how you live your life as a woman, all by yourself before God, is what makes the real you. Nothing on the exterior can touch or change that precious inner sanctuary, your heart, his dwelling place unless you let it. And God, who loves you very much has tailor made all your outer life, your circumstances, your relationships, to pressure you into becoming that beautiful woman he's planned for you to be.” ~ Anne Ortlund ~





Well ladies, I'm learning very quickly that no physical beauty lasts forever. Yes, as we age we change. Once soft, smooth, shimmering skin now begins to give way to lines and wrinkles. As by magic, grey hairs begin to appear out of nowhere, but it’s not an illusion. Before you know it, you look in the mirror and discover you have lost that woman you were many ago.



I'm so blessed to know that even though natural beauty will dissipate, our inner beauty can continue to flourish as we become conformed more into the image of Christ. This was really what our loving Father always intended us be, a vessel of honor perfectly designed by His loving hands.


"And God, who loves you very much has tailor made all your outer life, your circumstances, your relationships, to pressure you into becoming that beautiful woman he's planned for you to be."



So, herein lays the secret to becoming the most beautiful woman you could ever be. Our relationships, circumstances, and pressures. Sounds like the process of a diamond being formed from a lump of coal in the heart of the Earth. He does not change our nose, figure, hair color or make us taller or shorter, but He changes our hearts and minds. We work so hard to preserve the outer, and all the while, our Father is at work to renew the inner person. So what is beautiful to God?

“Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” Proverbs 31:30


Each new day we are given the opportunity to allow more of God's unfading beauty to be imparted into our lives. When I first was saved, Amy Grant sang one of my favorite songs. Some of you may remember it was called, "She has her Father's eyes.” That should our quest, to become more like Him in every way.





Lord, let your beauty and your holiness rest upon us today. May others be able to see Your eyes, Your heart, and a reflection of Your beauty when they look upon our faces.

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