A More Beautiful You?

There is a song by Jonny Diaz that has caught my attention lately. It's called "More Beautiful You." The first line of the chorus is "There could never be a more beautiful you." It's the main thrust of the song and it's so true. People constantly try to make themselves more beautiful or more appealing to themselves or others. The truth is: Every person was made the way they are for a reason.

First of all, the standard that society sets for "beautiful" is basically unattainable. Not every woman has the capacity to be 5'10", blonde, 110 pounds, perfectly toned, tan, etc... Likewise, every man doesn't have the capacity to be 6'2", athletic, musically inclined, and bench 300 pounds. It's ridiculous. AND, how boring would society be if everyone were this way? Making my outward appearance more appealing isn't wrong. However, if I obsess about being overweight because I think I have to meet a standard set by society, I'm in the wrong. Working out to be healthy is great. Working out so that I'll be noticed by people as being more "beautiful," is wrong.

True beauty has everything to do with your heart. Do you care about people other than yourself? Can you put their needs in front of yours? Do you go out of your way to help strangers? Are you honest? Respectful?

I think that the beauty of society is the differences we possess. The unique set of characteristics and gifts we are given shouldn't be hidden.

I have struggles in a related department lately. I've been falling into the trap of thinking that certain aspects of who I am and what I possess aren't going to be good enough. I start believing that it matters if someone else is better than me at one given thing. Lastly, I start to believe that the people closest to me in my life will not be as content with me because of the possibility that I might not measure up.

These are lies that Satan uses against me. He uses them to make me cynical and driven to change something about myself based on the standard other people set. He uses them to make me withdrawl from conversations with people. He uses them to make me focus on the negative. Basically, he uses them to drag me down. I start to buy into these things and sometimes its not until I start realizing that I'm bringing other people down that I need to address my issue.

Jonny unpacks a lot in the song. The last line of the bridge says "And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl." Man, how amazing it would be to still view life through the eyes of a child. Kids never think about the possibility of their hair being messed up or if they're athletic. Kids are carefree. I love it. Just last night, I hung out with a 5 year old who took marker and colored her entire hand and got it all over her face. She didn't care! She isn't driven to be the best looking, most attractive, successful, athletic, accomplished, etc... girl she can be. She's just enjoying life as it comes :)

I am carefully and wonderfully made. I have a purpose. I am beautiful exactly as I am. Because true beauty is not an outward appearance but an inward, ongoing transformation into becomming more and more like Christ with every day.