The Abundant Life: Riches money can’t buy…
The abundant life recognizes true beauty in others.
Beauty is subjective. Different people have various ideas about what they consider beautiful. Unfortunately, most of us have been bombarded with digitally enhanced images through television, movies, and magazines. We have been subliminally programmed to buy into the media’s idea of beauty which is based solely on airbrushed appearances. This is bound to have an effect on how we think.
If we try to set a guy friend up on a blind date, the first thing he might ask is, “What does she look like?” We might say, “She’s nice, intelligent, well groomed, has a sense of humor, and just won the Nobel Peace Prize,” but he would probably still say, “Sure, but what does she look like?” This is understandable to a certain degree because there is such a thing as physical attraction. However, those who never look for more than this are doomed for disappointment because physical beauty is really only skin-deep.
Although difficult, we need to think of beauty the same way God does. Nowhere do we see God using outward appearance to determine someone’s beauty. In fact, He cautions us against using such criteria for judging another’s worth. When God’s prophet Samuel was looking for the next king of Israel among the sons of Jesse, he thought he’d found the right one. Eliab must have been a tall, handsome hunk—what everyone thought a king should look like. So much so that when Samuel gazed on Eliab’s “hunkiness” he said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” (1 Samuel 16:6)
That was a wrong assumption because God had other ideas. God said, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.” (1 Samuel 16:7) In other words, it didn’t matter if Eliab was one the 50 hunkiest men in the world and looked like he should be a king. God was looking for something else which he finally found in Eliab’s kid brother David—a lowly shepherd.
God went on to say, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Perhaps we should start beholding beauty the same way God does. He’s not looking at a person’s shiny blonde hair, blemish free skin, slim hips, and new Prada shoes. He finds a heart full of the fruit of His Spirit more appealing. (Galatians 5:22-23) When we look for the beauty in others, let’s look for those qualities most important to God—things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Those living the abundant life know that charm can be deceitful and beauty is passing. (Proverbs 31:30) Fashions go out of style and external beauty fades, but godly character lasts forever. How beautiful!
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“…I have come that they may have life and that they
may have it more abundantly.” ~John 10:10 (KJV)
