Nail Polish, Hair Dye and Make-Up.
What do these things have in common?
They are all 'beautifiers'.
They are things that women apply or have applied to them in order to feel prettier, look more attractive or sometimes just to change things up a little.
Then you have coloured contact lenses (just for fun), fake lashes and fake tans - all still very temporary.
You then have botox to smooth those fine lines and wrinkles, a 'little' nip and tuck here and there - we're getting bigger now.
Lastly (but certainly not definitively) we have breast implants and plastic surgery - very big decisions and dramatic changes to our natural state.
Why do women do some or all of the above? Well we say things like it makes us feel more confident and better about ourselves.
All of your physical characteristics were lovingly designed for us by our Creator. Not one of these things was a mistake - the colour of your hair, eyes and skin, your height and yes ladies, even the size of your bozzom were purposely given to you by God.
So why, then do we think that maybe God made a mistake with us?
What does God's word tell us about this?
Job 10:8 (NASB) 'Your hands fashioned and made me altogether..,'
God has fashioned and designed you dear! And not just one part of you, everything about you! The same God who made the stars and called them by name, who made the sun to burn fierce and bright as it governs the day sky, who gave us wildflowers and waterfalls - made you ! And as personal as he was in making each one of these natural beauties of our world, which are each a small reflection of him in their own right, well girlfriend, he was just as personal when he made you and my, did he make you beautiful.
If Jesus was to come round for dinner, knowing about your doubts, insecurities and worries, he would send a note beforehand saying,
"Just be yourself, my princess, for I love you dearly just the way you are."
If God delights in us, it is not because of our hair colour or how even our skin tone is, and he made sure that we knew this, because he knew what we would be like:1 Sam16:7 (NIV)"The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
In other words, we can be vain, but God is not - He is better than that (and we should be too!)
Furthermore,
Proverbs 31:30 (NIV) "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised."
1 Pet 3:2-6 (MSG) "There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance - the styling of your hair, the jewelery you wear, the cut of your clothes - but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way..."
Should it not be such qualities that make us confident women, whether our hair be greying or not?
St Peter even implicitly says that such a way of living shows God's love to unbelievers - Wow!
You are one of a kind, and in the Creator's eyes - you look perfect because you turned out just the way he wanted.
Psalm 139:13 (NIV) ' For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.' - when you knit something, you effectively shape it to be what you want it to be.
v15 ' My frame was not hidden from you when I was in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth...,'
Just the right height, just the right hair colour, just the right shape nose and perfectly placed cheek bones - if he wanted to change something about your appearance, he certainly had time, about 9 months! But no, to him you are His beautiful creation and he wouldn't have you any other way. After all God made you to be you, if he wanted a thousand and one Kim Karsdashian look-a-likes - he would have made them, he certainly has the power.
You were made in His likeness, v14 'fearfully and wonderfully made'.
So don't for a second longer believe the lies that the enemy circulates around the world and through the media. Instead stand firm on the truth of God's word and
Flourish baby, Flourish!
