Looking Into the Mirror of God’s Word
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. – Proverbs 31:30
The other day I was straightening my hair trying to get the wave out. I was intently focused on getting it just right. I love to fix my hair and put on make-up. Before having kids I never went anywhere without make-up. I just love being a girly girl. Now, if I put on make-up my boys ask me where are we going that day. Ha! Funny how things change isn’t it?
The Holy Spirit began to reveal something to me. If we spent half the time in the mirror of God’s Word, as we do in the physical mirror perfecting our physique how much more like Jesus could we be? We pay so much attention to our face and hair. I know that it takes some women hours to get ready. We want our eye shadow to look just right and have a dramatic effect to make our eyes pop out. We wax or pluck our eye brows so they look perfect. We make sure every lash is covered in mascara and want them to look full and long. Is that wrong? I don’t think it is,if that isn’t what drives you. If you know that it is just make-up and our worth isn’t in it,then I think there is nothing wrong with it. But if we value our physical beauty over our spiritual beauty,we need to stop and re-evaluate things.
What if we intently looked into the Word of God and let it change us? What if we were so particular about our actions,words,and obedience to the Word? I think our homes would look a lot different. I think even our churches and our society would look a lot different. The Word says in II Corinthians 3:18 that we are changed by the Spirit of the Lord, But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The Bible is our mirror. It will show us the imperfections,the sins,and the ugliness of ourselves. It is to be our guide for life. What is more beautiful than a soul that is gentle,loving,patient,and kind? That is what God wants us to focus on. He wants us to be beautiful inside more than He does on the outside.
Our society pushes physical beauty and we are bombarded with perfecting our bodies. It’s good for us not to get caught up in that. It is very easy to do because the world seems to exalt those with beautiful faces and perfect hair. They look down on those who don’t keep up with the latest trends and try the latest work outs. Those who are not slim and trim are looked at shamefully. Even those who are not “pretty” to look upon are rejected. God looks deeper than our Cover Girl and CHI. He cares much more about how we treat others,how we handle disruptions,and how we love our families than how straight our hair is. That is so hard to remember for me at times. I fall prey to keeping up with what the world says is beautiful. It’s directly opposite to what God says is beautiful. I’m so thankful He isn’t worried about my waist size,my hair,or my face. He doesn’t measure us by those things. He measures our worth by what He says about us. He says we are redeemed and we are His.
Don’t let the world,the devil,yourself,or others make you feel less than God says you are. With His Spirit in us,we can strive to walk in the godliness He has called us too.
Lord, help us to be women of conviction,women of Your righteousness. May we seek to have a beautiful spirit and not just a beautiful face. Let our souls desire to bring peace,love,joy,goodness,and gentleness to those around us. Give us the strength to not conform to the world’s standards of beauty,but to be transformed by Your Word to what You say is beautiful. Those who bring peace and good tidings are those You say are beautiful. Draw us nearer to Your heart,Jesus. In Jesus Name, Amen.
What a great message – reminding us to spend time in the mirror of God’s Word.
But something you said in passing was the bigger message to me – it was illuminated on the page in a way that caught my attention – when you said that God cares more about, among other things, “how we handle disruptions”. It was the word “disruption” that made me reconsider how I view or label problems or trials, both large and small, daily or ongoing … they really are just disruptions to our lives, implying that we will move on and not be stopped or stuck in place forever.
Thank you! I will consider the word disruption when I encounter life’s inevitable problems.
Thank you,Cynitha for reading with us today! I have finally realized that about things that come up daily,they are just disruptions. I’m so glad you were encouraged and uplifted by this devotion! God bless you!
Oh so true, Heather. We are often trying to impress others on how we look. But like you said, God is looking deeper, past the makeup and eye-shadow. He looks at our heart and how we treat the ones around us.
Thank you for the reminder to look into the mirror of God’s Word.
This is something I struggle with Iris so it hit home. Thank you for this oppurtunity! !
I enjoyed your post Heather and the truth here. Thanks for the reminder of who we are in Jesus and those things that the world say are important are not the things we should be focusing on.
Thanks Bethany!! So glad you read today!
Great Post Heather!