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6 Traits Of Biblical
Beauty
.
Biblical beauty is
often not acknowledged or sought after in this day and age - it's not popular
and often times it's downright controversial - but as women who love God with
all our hearts, and women who not only want to look good on the outside, we
should be seeking to be made beautiful in God's eyes
VICTORIA
While
I was working on the completion of Simply Dressed, I kept thinking about what
God has to say when it comes to our appearance and beauty.
How
does He define beauty in the Bible?
Satan
was planting seeds of doubt in my writing time with thoughts such as:
“This is vain and unimportant to try and encourage
women to dress everyday and to clean out their closets.”
“There are so many more important topics to discuss”
“God does not like beauty so neither should you.”
All
of those statements are lies. God does like beauty because God created
beautiful things.
Look
around, especially now as spring is blooming. There is beauty in nature and,
despite what current pop-culture fads deems as “beautiful”, God created
us beautiful in His image (Genesis 1:27).
We
are His creation and just as we see the beauty all around us in nature, God
sees the true beauty in us.
Yet
as women, we often don’t think of ourselves as beautiful.
We
are constantly bombarded with images of celebrities and models who, according
to other’s standards, seem to have the “perfect body.”
We
follow fashion and beauty tips to enhance our physical appearance all the while
ignoring what truly makes us beautiful.
Every
one of us probably has some sort of daily beauty routine that we go through
from washing our faces, getting dressed, applying makeup, brushing our teeth or
styling our hair.
None
of those are wrong and most of those things are necessary.
But
we need to remember that true beauty begins with a solid foundation of faith,
love, and trust in God.
We
can’t forget that part of our daily routine should be time spent with God, in
His Word and in communication with Him through prayer.
Whether
that be in the morning, later in the day or in the evening, we NEED that time
with Him everyday to build on the foundation of our faith.
This
should be the first step in our daily beauty routine.
The second step is outlined a bit more in 1 Timothy
2:9-10: “likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable
apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or
pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for woman who profess
godliness - with good works.”
While
this passage is often misinterpreted and not really understood (I actually dive
into the full interpretation in my eBook Simply Dressed), it does serve as a
guide.
When
we combine our faith, love and trust in God with good works, we are actively displaying
what true biblical beauty looks like.
SO
WHAT ARE GOOD WORKS?
Here
is that part that starts to get a little sticky. While we don’t have a works-based
faith (meaning that we can’t change the way God loves us despite how much work
we do), we do have a calling to show others love through our works.
Where
some start to question is whether or not our good works take away from the
gospel, after all, Christ died for our sins so we wouldn’t be punished.
But Matthew 5:16 points out that “our good works
give glory to our Father who is in Heaven.”
Good
works are the physical, tangible ways that we show acts of kindness, love,
service, hospitality and blessings to others.
As
women who love God with all our hearts, good works are how we adorn ourselves
to show beauty.
There
are many scripture references that emphasis the good works of all believers,
just look up Titus 2:3-5, Proverbs 31:3, 1 Peter 3:6 or 1 Timothy 5:9-10 just
to name a few.
“Good works done for the glory of God do not distract
from the gospel or undermine the gospel.
“Good works are essential to our gospel proclamation.
They promote Christ’s reputation, they bring glory to God, and they make us
beautiful for the sake of the gospel.
“To be gospel-centered in our good works mean that we
don’t rely on those good works for our righteousness before God or our
forgiveness from Him.
“We are accepted before God only because of Christ’s
death and resurrection.
“We are able to stand before God only because of the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
“We do good works because we received forgiveness, not
in order to earn forgiveness.” True
Beauty by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Whitacre
HOW
DO GOOD WORKS MAKE US BEAUTIFUL?
In
1 Timothy 5:10, Paul is sharing wisdom about widows but in doing so, he is also
describing what true, Biblical beauty in Christian women should look like by
describing acts of self-service and sacrifice in terms of doing good works to
show God’s love to others.
“… and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown
hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted,
and has devoted herself to every good work.”
Here
in this small passage, Paul is describing different categories of good works as
a guide for what Biblical beauty looks like and how this should be combined
with our own personal beauty routine to make us truly beautiful.
BRINGING
UP CHILDREN
You
may be a mother, either by birth or through adoption, a grandmother, aunt,
teacher, friend or neighbor.
You
may not be in a season where you are responsible for the daily care of
children, or you may be elbow deep in diapers, trucks and temper-tantrums.
Regardless
of what season of life you are in, at some point, you are called to show God’s
love to children, either in church, in school, or to family members.
Children
are precious to God (Matthew 19:14) therefore they should be precious to us.
We
are called to teach and train them diligently (Deuteronomy 6:7) and to bring
them up in the instruction of the Lord (Ephesians
6:4).
Motherhood
can be hard work and most days we certainly don’t feel beautiful while we are
covered in spit up or when a diaper exploded on us.
We
feel grumpy, grouchy and exhaustion from lack of sleep or correcting the same
discipline problem for the 100th time that day.
It’s
hard, dirty work but it’s also so rewarding as well.
SHOWING
HOSPITALITY
When
we show hospitality to those around us, we are meeting the needs of others.
Perhaps
you are taking a meal to a family with a new baby, welcoming a new neighbor
into your home for food and fellowship or simply offering your time to someone
who needs it.
Showing
hospitality can come in different ways but the true example of hospitality, we
need to look no farther than Jesus Christ.
When
he died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, He showed the ultimate act
of hospitality.
Because
of what Christ did for us, we who believe are welcome into the household of
God.
When
we show others acts of service through hospitality, we are ultimately
reflecting God’s love which in turns is revealing biblical beauty.
WASHING
THE FEET OF SAINTS
Thankfully
to the invention of shoes and paved sidewalks, we don’t have to walk through
dirt and mud which would cover our feet with filth.
Back
in biblical times though, washing feet was another act of service because it
was a dirty job and one that wasn’t looked on with reverence. After all, who
wants to wash smelly, stinky feet?
But
think about the dirty, or undesired tasks, that need to be done on a daily
basis?
Washing
diapers, scrubbing floors, sweeping up Cheerios for the umpteenth time, or
whatever mundane, the household tasks you do to serve your family on a daily
basis.
Then
there is the service that you do outside of your family when you volunteer,
serve in your church or community or go on a mission trip.
We
may not be physically washing feet these days but giving our time and talents
in service to build the kingdom of God is honorable.
CARING
FOR THE AFFLICTED
There
are so many around us in our circles that are hurting, in pain, or suffering,
whether they be physically sick or suffering from a heartache of losing a
family member or dream.
We
should be following Jesus’ example of caring for and showing love to those who
needed it most, just look to Isaiah 53:3, Psalm 34:18 or 2 Corinthians 1:4.
Bless
the woman who brought you a meal when you needed it most, sent an encouraging
card or kissed your boo-boos when you were a child.
Similarly,
you can show love and hospitality to those around you who need it most to
display biblical beauty.
DEVOTED
TO EVERY GOOD WORK
All
of these traits are related to being available and open to show hospitality.
Having
a heart that is eager, ready and willing is beautiful, both to God and to those
around you who you are blessing with your good works.
Through
these different characteristics of service, we are also sharing the good news
of God, which is something that we are called to do.
It
is our call as believers to evangelize, or to share the message of God’s love
which is a message about the beauty that God created which was then lost but
restored through Christ.
As
we trust God and do good works, we will be beautiful in the eyes of those we
serve, and most importantly, be precious in the sight of God.
Biblical
beauty is often not acknowledged or sought after in this day and age. It's not
popular and often times it's downright controversial.
But
as women who love God with all our hearts, and women who not only want to look
good on the outside, we should be seeking to be made beautiful in God's eyes.
HOW
DO YOU DEFINE BIBLICAL BEAUTY?
Simply Dressed: Inspiration to Dress for the {Everyday} Ordinary Days
eBook is now available! A complete resource to help you examine your heart
towards clutter, embrace your personal style (and your current body) and the
challenge to go through your closet, piece-by-piece, to create a wardrobe you
actually love! For more details head to CreativeHomeKeeper.com
This post may contain
affiliate links, including links to Amazon. When you click on them and make a
purchase, I receive a small commission. See my full disclosure here.
HERE AT CREATIVE HOME KEEPER,
WE BELIEVE HOMEMAKING IS A GOOD THING, IT’S A GOD-GIVEN GIFT AND IT STILL
MATTERS TODAY.
You want to understand why
your role as a homemaker matters today but you struggle to define what a
homemaker even is.
You know that creating a
Christ-focused home centered on the Gospel is important but feel like you are
getting lost in the things that don’t really matter.
You desire to have a heart of
joy yet the daily demands of managing your home and family feel more like
drudgery than delight.
And then you turn to the
passage in your Bible that is supposed to set the stage for what a “good
homemaker” looks like and you are left feeling even more overwhelmed.
If you have ever thought that
you will never be the perfect Proverbs 31 woman and your family deserves
better, then you are in the right place.
You need a better way to find
joy, peace, and purpose in your home. Trying to live up to the idea of the
“perfect Proverbs 31” example of homemaking is exhausting and it’s robbing you
of creating the home environment you have always envisioned.
Sweet friends, I hear you and
I want to tell you something important…
I believe there is freedom in
the Gospel to become the homemaker God has created you to be…. Perfection not
required.
HI, I’M
VICTORIA! I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS JOURNEY!
I was thrown into my role as a homemaker
with not much experience. I had a vision and an idea of what a homemaker looked
like and should be doing, but didn’t have any real examples to look to. So I
started reading books about traditional homemaking and boy oh boy, did that
send me down a path of unrealistic expectations and ideals!
I remember one afternoon throwing a book
across the room and thinking, “If one more person tells me I need to
follow the example of the Proverbs 31 woman to a T, I am going to
scream!” So at the recommendation of a wiser woman, I stopped reading
about homemaking from other’s perspectives and opened my Bible to see what God
said and my view changed.
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