Glorious Desire

"A pure heart is one to which all that is not of God is strange and jarring."
- John Tavler

Could I just share something I recently read? Bear with me, it might be a bit long, but someone needs to hear this. I'm certain of this fact.

"Only 2 percent of women think they are beautiful according to a recent survey*. That reality is a little strange because beauty has never been easier to come by than it is today. The plastic surgery business is booming. Beauty products are boundless. We are surrounded by a plethora of books, magazines, and TV shows that provide us with all the secrets and techniques we need to look, act, and feel like a confident, beautiful young woman. We have all the tools we need. And most of us spend a huge portion of our time trying to make ourselves alluring.
Yet in an ironic twist, we still feel ugly. We still feel worthless. We still feel like we aren't 'there' yet.

A graphic designer for a major clothing label once told me, "In real life no model really looks as perfect as what you see in clothing ads or on catalog covers. We digitally alter her. We remove several inches from her waist and thighs. We enhance her chest size. We airbrush her skin." The World lifts up a standard for beauty that is literally impossible to achieve in real life.

As women, the desire to be beautiful is innate. We long to be seen attractive, appealing, and desirable. We dream of capturing the heart of a noble prince with our stunning beauty, like the princesses in our childhood fairy tales. But our longing to be loved and wooed by a heroic groom didn't originate with Cinderella- it's actually a Biblical concept. The entire Bible is a beautiful love story between Christ and His bride- drawing us, wooing us, and loving us the way we have always dreamed of.

...Jesus is the only One who can truly satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts. And yet, most of us turn to everything but Him in a desperate attempt to find the approval we crave. And pop culture preys upon our longings for love like a relentless vulture.

...Young women today are supposed to be the most liberated, independent, confident, and fulfilled of any in history. But we are a desperate, lonely, insecure, and hopeless lot- plagued by eating disorders, abusive relationships, emotional breakdowns, and sexual chaos.
We've been looking for beauty in the wrong place. And our incessant search for beauty has stripped us of all that is truly beautiful."
- Excerpt from Leslie Ludy's book, Set-Apart Femininity.

I would like to say this is untrue, a lie. But I, too, have fallen prey to this vulture we call culture. I do not want to waste my life pursuing for a beauty that's appealing to such a fallen world. This place is not my home, why should I seek to please it?

Let my life be a reflection of a beauty that's not my own. A beauty that comes from the Glory above.

Sincerely,

A girl with a smile