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Seeing with God's Eyes: Pondering How Beauty Should Be Valued and Measured - Introduction

I have a daughter.  She is six years old.  One day I caught her in front of the mirror, puffing her cheeks out and sucking them in.  She had been standing there for several minutes.  I asked her what she was doing.  She told me her cheeks are too fat.  I asked her if someone had told her that, and she said no, she just figured it out on her own.

This moment broke my heart.  Here was this lovely little girl, created by God, joy-filled and eager to love others.  But she stood there convinced she was deficient.  And only six years old!

I knew this complex and difficult subject of beauty would be the focus of many mother-daughter talks, but I didn't expect it to be so soon.  I also didn't expect it to be of her own observation.  I thought it might begin after some mild bullying incident.

But the teaching and encouraging and truth speaking must begin now.

Little girls and little boys grow up in an overwhelming society, bombarded with false messages about beauty.  Messages that break people.  Messages that distort how we understand God's design for beauty.

There's a madness in this world's idea of beauty.  My mind is boggled that the definition of beauty flows from the height of worldliness when in reality the definition flows from who Christ is.  He is the perfect embodiment of beauty.

My hope is to write several blog entries pondering different facets and different questions about beauty.  I'm primarily seeking to equip myself for those mother-daughter talks, and looking forward to some feedback.  And if the Lord sees fit, these ponderings will encourage and edify others.

I think that if we first understand that God is the epicentre of beauty and from Him all true beauty flows, we can then have our minds and hearts re-oriented to enjoy beauty as God intended.  We were absolutely meant to revel and be enthralled in beautiful things and virtues.  God created a world of beauty to reflect His glory, though, since the fall that beauty has been distorted.  As we glory in that which is beautiful, we are meant to have our hearts inclined to God to magnify Him.  That which is beautiful under the sun is but a dim shadow of God’s beauty, the fullness and perfection of beauty.

Comments

  1. Georgina23 November 2016 at 19:23

    "My mind is boggled that yhe definition of beauty flows from the height if worldliness when in reality the definition flows from whi Christ is"
    Great line!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Georgina23 November 2016 at 19:26

    "My mind is boggled that yhe definition of beauty flows from the height if worldliness when in reality the definition flows from whi Christ is"
    Great line!

    ReplyDelete

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