What matters is not your outer appearance – the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes – but your inner disposition. – 1 Peter 3:4
My last reflection focused on outer beauty while this week’s reflection focuses on inner beauty. One Southern phrase that I remember from my college days that is appropriate for this reflection is “don’t be ugly.” I always thought this referred to don’t be mean, rude, or hurtful – my Southern friends please correct me if I’m wrong. Thinking further about this phrase… being mean, rude, or hurtful actually makes you look “ugly” – giving this phrase two meanings, both of which dull your inner beauty.
Thinking further about inner beauty, and drawing on feelings of “giving” during the holiday season, I think giving the gift of love or time really demonstrates inner beauty. The thoughtful gifts -- the ones that time to create or require your loving touch -- are really most meaningful and allow your inner beauty to shine through.
How do we strengthen our inner beauty and allow it to shine for God? The following was a suggestion from this week’s reading: how much time do you commit to your outer beauty each day (i.e. hair, makeup, nails, etc)? Commit to spending the same amount of time cultivating your inner beauty. Consider prayer, meditation, giving… allow your inner beauty to shine because that light is the one that reflects God’s goodness.
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Yes, Jennifer, you used “don’t be ugly” correctly. I had to think about how I used it and realized I am always telling Parker not to be ugly when he is crying after I take a prized, breakable possession from his little hands. (They all seem to know exactly where to find them, no matter how hard we hide them!) He scrunches his face and has the most demanding little stomp to go along with his screams. As handsome as I believe my child is, the moment is never pretty!
ReplyDeleteHowever, Parker is simply showing how he feels on the inside. What do we look like when we don’t get our way? We may have learned to hide the obvious anger that our kids unleash, but the inner stewing will come out…especially if we keep stirring the pot with our thoughts!
And God sees our inner beauty even if no else does. That’s reason enough for me to work on it! Thanks, Jennifer, for your encouragement.