Are you Beautiful?

A few years ago after days of basically ignoring make-up and putting my hair up in a ponytail I decided it was time to do something about myself! I cut 10 inches off the length of my hair and got out the trusty Miss Clairol (yes my hair is naturally black and will stay that way as long as Miss Clairol makes hair color) and began the process of repairing the “barn”. Four years before that I had decided to make a change and when my children left the house to have dinner with their dad I got out the hair clippers and shaved my head, I put on the sock-hat I had bought, having  planned this ahead of time. The shock on their faces when they came home was too funny! Then I had to face everyone I knew with this baldhead and remembered the scripture, 1Corinthians 11:15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.I did wonder if I had made a big mistake but it was  too late to regret it.  Honestly it was something I had wanted to do since I was about 10 years old and saw the movie starring Ingrid Bergman, about the life of Joan of Arc, the French religious icon and war heroine, whose head was shaved. I wanted to be the heroin that “saved the day” but being burned at the stake was not part of the plan!

Americans spend over $7 billion a year on beauty products! If I am pointing my finger at you that means I have three pointing back at myself and I am guilty for real. $10 billion dollars a year are spent on cosmetic surgery and this fact was dated from when gas was almost $5 a gallon! Why do we feel the need to do this?

2 Corinthians 10:12 “But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

When I was young people wanted to “keep up with the Joneses“, not a pun on “keeping up with the Kardashians” which are actually relatives of the Mushegans, but it meant everyone wanted to be better than their neighbor, which put social and financial pressure on the average family. I heard a young, attractive lady saying she needed to earn money for a “boob job” because… she listed many of her friends and acquaintances who had the procedure, she felt it was something everyone did and you had to do it to look good.

Where are our priorities?

What about worrying about the condition of your “heart”?

God sent the prophet to anoint a new King for Israel, after several handsome young men had been dismissed the prophet wondered why, 1Samuel 16:7 But GOD told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. GOD judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; GOD looks into the heart.”

While my head was shaved I put bleach on it and between that and the hair that was turning, my head was a glorious, shining silver! I’ve had it long, short, colored, un-colored, at times worn too much and other times too little make-up, but when the day is done and I look at myself in the mirror…

…it’s still me.

The outside changes with the seasons of life but the inside is all that matters to God.

Let’s all go to the mirror, look straight into our own eyes and ask this question, “Are you beautiful on the inside?” Zechariah 2:8 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: “He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” 

The apple of His eye? We’re special and beautiful to Him, who else matters?