Lie #1 – Physically, you aren’t good enough. You aren’t pretty enough,
skinny enough, have good enough skin, etc. You are not beautiful because you
aren’t perfect.
Truth #1 – You were created and formed by your
Heavenly Father who DOES NOT make mistakes. God created YOU beautiful.
Psalm 139:13-16 - For you formed my inward parts; you knitted
me together in my mother's womb. I
praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being
made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my
unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that
were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Lie #2 – Beauty is defined by your outward appearance, not
the way you act or the way you treat people. The only thing that’s important is
looking good.
Truth #2 –
The truth is…beauty resonates from within. True beauty comes from Christ
completely changing a person from the inside out.
Proverbs
31:30 - Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the
LORD is to be praised.
1
Samuel 16:7 - The LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his
height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks
at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1
Peter 3:3-4 - Your beauty should not merely come from outward adornment,
such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner
self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth
in God’s sight.
Lie #3 –
Those who are most beautiful are those who are the most worldly, the people
with the most material possessions, and the individuals with the most prestige.
Truth #3 – The truth is…those who are most
beautiful…look like Jesus.
Isaiah 52:7 - How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of
those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who
proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!”
Philippians 2:3-5,14-15 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or
conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let
each of you look not only to [her] own interests, but also to the interests of
others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…. Do
all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and
innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
"We are women, and my plea is ‘Let me be a
woman, holy through and through,
asking for nothing but what God wants to give
me,
receiving with both hands and with all my heart
whatever that is.’ ”
― Elisabeth Elliot
Amen!
May we, as the
Church
of
Christ, regard
everyone as precious in God’s sight!
Pastor Brian