Beauty at any age
A few days ago I read:
Someone once defined middle age as “a brief period of time between being too young to do something and being too old to want to.”
In our fast pace lives it seems that time and age are critical in making decisions. It seems like we’re either too old or too young. A few years ago I started my “second life”. I’m too young to be a widow for the rest of my life, but I’m too old to “act so young”. I’m too young to sit at the stage in my job that I’m at, but I’m too old to start over. I’m proving that I’m not “too old”.
It isn’t always easy to remember that our timing is not God’s timing and He is the One who knows the best planning.
God doesn’t tell us that we’re “too young”. Samuel first heard the voice of the Lord when he was very young. Paul wrote Timothy not to let people dispise him because of his youth. The prophet Jeremiah said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth” (Jer. 1:6). Nobody should be told (or be allowed to say) that they are too young to serve God!
On the opposite end of life from Jeremiah, Moses was 80 when he was called by the Lord – and then he led God’s people around for another 40 years. Nobody should be told (or be allowed to say) that they are too old to serve God!
As women, sometimes it seems as though we are constantly urged by the world to look or be “younger, thinner, prettier”. These are the world’s values. The Bible tells us a different story about what true beauty looks like.
Do not let your adorning be external–the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing– but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
These things are not bad, braids, jewelry and pretty clothes are not sinful – but depending on these things to be our beauty is focusing on what is on our outside, not Who is on our inside.
Age doesn’t matter in this true beauty and I know women of all different ages who are truly beautiful…
How are you becoming more beautiful?
Isn’t it wonderful that His idea of beauty is so different from the world’s. If the world had its way, beauty would only outward appearance, and everyone would look the same. In God’s eyes beauty is a result of living out our love for Him, and the more we live it out, the more beautiful we become. I especially love how beautiful Christian ladies become as the lines begin to show, as years of loving Him start showing in the laugh lines that appear on their faces. How beautiful is an elderly lady who has loved the Lord all her life, despite all that life threw at her. I long to have that type of beauty, that shows up after all rgular forms of beauty fade.
How am I becoming beautiful? Most people say that I am very quiet. Not sure if they see that as beauty…I just hope that Christ’s beauty shines through me.
As a just barely 30 year old, I am beginning to see and appreciate true beauty in women who are older than me. Where my younger, vainer self saw only lines and age spots, I now see a fufilling, joyful life lived in the faces of the women I admire most. Like the previous post, these are the women I desire to look like – because they look like Jesus.
Ellen,
This is an excellent question to contemplate. I can get caught up in my exterior. I thank you for this thoughtful post. Love and hugs, Lynn
Ahh middle age, I used to dread aging, but as always God has the last laugh! Each decade I turn I am finding out that it is not all that bad, as a matter of fact I am enjoying my middle age now. I have been through the babies,colic,worry about my child coming home on time,etc. Now I have time to reflect and concentrate on my God,my self, and my husband. Each part of our aging lives are a joy to see what God will reveal in our lives. I choose to enjoy the rest of the story!