Are you Beautiful?

Something has been on my mind lately.

Perhaps it is the realization that soon I will be close to age 30 and people still think I am 21. Or perhaps it that as I observe the youth today, I see 18 year-olds looking like they are 25, and 13 year-olds looking legal.

Do you remember the days when it was normal for girls to wear jeans and sweatshirts to school and make-up, tans and bracelets were for special occasions?  I do. Dances were a big deal. My girlfriends and I would spend time before the dances plastering glitter on our cheekbones and eyeliner that was way too thick. I'm still sad that no one had the guts to tell us it looked terrible. Fake eyelashes, eye shadows and bronzers weren't items we carried in our make-up bags. Heck, we barely owned a make-up bag!

Maybe it is social media, parents are more excited to see their children grow into adults, or the peer pressure of looking perfect has really got to us all. Whatever it is - I feel like it is a disease overtaking girls.

source: http://trendland.com/beauty-by-elias-hove-for-schon-magazine-19/

Gone are the days of being a girl. You go from child to teen to adult in the twinkling of an eye. Where did the rites of passage go? It used to be a big deal to buy the first tube of mascara, shave our legs, or get our ears pierced. Now - we are handing the cosmetic must-haves to our to girls before they reach junior high.

Please don't misunderstand me. There is absolutely nothing wrong with looking fabulous! It's great that as woman we want to look nice. The disease I am talking about is taking place in our daughters, our little sisters and our nieces. It is taking place in every home in America and it is the bleeding belief that materialism = beauty.

Women/girls (who can tell the difference anymore?) - we are way too obsessed with what we look like. It doesn't matter where I am, I see make-up, fake nails, fake eyelashes, fake breasts, fake skin color, fake teeth, fake purses. Fake is beginning to be the new beautiful. Women are taught that self esteem is based on the outfit, on the brand name (sunglasses, purses, car, perfume and clothing) and on flawless skin and make-up.

I am talking about the girls that base their worth - their divine nature - on the their physical appearance, and they allow others to set the standard of their worth. I am talking about strong women, fun women, intelligent women, loving and caring women who are being deceived. These woman are people I know, I love and sometimes I feel like these woman are me.

Let me tell you what beauty really is. Close your eyes and think of the sweetest woman you know. Many of you probably are thinking about your grandmother, your mother, your sister. Perhaps a teacher or someone you work with came to mind.  If I would have said, think of the most beautiful woman you know, many of you may have thought of the same person... others would have thought of someone they don't even know, someone in the tabloids, featured on the latest magazine. This is the problem.

Beauty is not about how you look.

Beauty is about WHO you ARE. 

The best way I can define beauty is 1 Corinthians 13:4. It is speaking of love. Surprisingly, beauty and love to me are synonymous.

Insert Beauty where Love is: "Love (Beauty) is patient. Love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful, not conceited, not rude. Never selfish. Not quick to take offense. There is nothing Love cannot face, there is not limit to its faith..."

To all the girls out there - no matter your age - know that you are beautiful because of how you speak, how you treat others and how you act when no one is looking. THIS is beauty... and it lasts longer than any tan, lipstick or eyeshadow.