{"id":3602,"date":"2016-08-28T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3602"},"modified":"2016-07-09T18:58:19","modified_gmt":"2016-07-09T23:58:19","slug":"choose-to-behold-real-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=3602","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Behold Real Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another Year of Choices<\/em><\/p>\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Beauty<\/p>\n

If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, what do I see when I \u201cbehold\u201d myself in the mirror? Usually I see an older, slightly overweight, flawed individual whose gray roots are badly in need of a touch up. Most of us feel we fall short because we live in an airbrushed society obsessed with physical beauty. It\u2019s bound to influence how we look at ourselves and how we look at others.<\/p>\n

If we try to set a guy friend up on a blind date, the first thing he might ask is, \u201cWhat does she look like?\u201d We might say, \u201cShe\u2019s nice, intelligent, well groomed, has a sense of humor, and just won the Nobel Peace Prize,\u201d but he would probably still say, \u201cSure, but what does she look like?\u201d Let\u2019s face it, magazines don\u2019t run issues of the 50 wittiest people in the world; it\u2019s always the 50 sexiest men or 50 most beautiful women.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that beauty is subjective. Different people have various ideas about what they consider beautiful, for beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Unfortunately, most of us \u201cbeholders\u201d have been bombarded with digitally enhanced images through television, movies, and magazines. Media has determined what is beautiful and we have subliminally been programmed to buy their idea of beauty. To them the phrase \u201cinner beauty\u201d is just another way of saying \u201cuggglllyyy!\u201d<\/p>\n

Although difficult, we need to think of beauty the same way God does. Nowhere do we see God using outward appearance to determine someone\u2019s beauty. In fact, he cautions us against using such criteria for judging another\u2019s worth. When God\u2019s prophet Samuel was looking for the next king of Israel among the sons of Jesse, he thought he\u2019d found the right one. Eliab must have been a tall, handsome hunk \u2013 what everyone thought a king should look like. So much so that when Samuel gazed on Eliab\u2019s \u201chunkiness\u201d he said, \u201cSurely the Lord\u2019s anointed stands here before the Lord.\u201d (1 Samuel 16:6)<\/p>\n

However, God had other ideas because He said, \u201cDo not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.\u201d (1 Samuel 16:7) In other words, it didn\u2019t 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\u2019s kid brother David \u2013 a lowly shepherd.<\/p>\n

God went on to say, \u201cThe Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u201d Try telling that to People Magazine!<\/p>\n

Perhaps we should start beholding beauty the same way God does. He\u2019s not looking at a person\u2019s 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)<\/p>\n

When we look for the beauty in others, do we look for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?<\/p>\n

Consider this\u2026 When God beholds beauty He doesn\u2019t look for something that is \u201cskin-deep.\u201d He goes much deeper \u2013 into a person\u2019s very heart.<\/p>\n

Helen Keller said, \u201cThe best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen\u2026they must be felt with the heart.\u201d Great perception, don\u2019t you think? Especially, since it came from a blind woman who knew how to behold the beauty all around her.<\/p>\n

\"Eye<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Suggestions for practicing this choice\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

God says, \u201cCharm is deceitful and beauty is passing\u2026\u201d (Proverbs 31:30) Fashions go out of style and external beauty fades but godly character remains. Ask God to help you not judge others based on outward appearance.<\/p>\n

Look for the hidden beauty in even the most difficult person. Mother Teresa said, \u201cThere is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t put down those who don\u2019t have the same idea of outward \u201cbeauty\u201d as you do. I\u2019m still trying to figure out why Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s Mona Lisa is considered so beautiful. Mona doesn\u2019t do it for me, but Leo must have seen something there I missed. When others look at us they might not see much, but God considers us a masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)<\/p>\n

Ask God to help you to view others as He views them \u2013 a child of God.<\/p>\n

Ask God to help you view yourself as He views you \u2013 His child whom He loves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren\u00a0   If beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, what do I see when I \u201cbehold\u201d myself in the mirror? Usually I see an older, slightly overweight, flawed individual whose gray … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}