Stewarding Biblical Beauty - Making it practical: Part 1 - The Beauty of the Heart

A quick overview

   Over the past several weeks I think we have all learned a lot about biblical beauty and what it is and what it is not.  It is my desire over the next two weeks to provide some practical suggestions for making biblical beauty a part of everyday life.  However, before we get started, I would like to take some time to quickly and concisely summarize key points that address the foundation of biblical beauty.

Biblical beauty...

•   first and foremost, is enthralled with the beauty of Christ which creates a desire to surrender to Him and to showcase His beauty.

•    #1 goal and desire is to draw the attention of others to Christ, not self. 

•   through the vision laid out in scripture, understands that the beauty of the heart is of far more value than any physical beauty we could ever posses.

•  also acknowledges that beauty is a gift that has great power to influence the lives of those who come in contact with it.  Through stewarding this God given beauty in a way that adorns the gospel of Christ, a young woman acts, dresses and lives with a set-apart elegance.

Making Biblical Beauty Practical

 Living with Christ-like elegance

day in and day out.

1. Prioritize Time Alone With Your Savior

     "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, 

he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

     Just a quick heads up, biblical beauty is completely impossible without Jesus Christ.  At it's roots, biblical beauty isn't following a list of rules, it's about following Christ.  When we abide in our Savior it produces in us a desire to be obedient to Him in every area of our lives.  Beauty just happens to be one of those areas.  Not only must we have taken part of the great exchange known as salvation, but also every day there must be a continual dying to ourselves, pick up the cross and following Christ. This is only made possible when we are sacrificially seeking Him through His word and prayer.
     Whoever you expose yourself to will shape you.  Have you ever been around a person and noticed that you started acting like them? In the same way, when we fellowship with Christ we desire to imitate Him. Only when our eyes are on Christ can we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, reflecting Him in our life.

     
2. Submit to Authority (with joy)

      Biblical beauty is marked by submission, first and foremost to Christ, and then to the authorities He has placed in your life. In Psalm 32:8, God makes a precious promise to His children when He says:

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

God promises to lead and to guide us that we may be protected from going the wrong way. We must submit to His leadership.  One of the many ways that marriage presents a picture of the gospel is in the way that a husband has authority over his wife.  He is to care for her and lead her and she is to submit to his leadership. 

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife 

even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior."

Ephesians 5:22-23

While you may not have that husband in your life right now, it is important to remember that once you are in Christ, He is known your Lord, Leader and Master.  As His daughters we are to seek, obey, and lay our lives at His feet to do with as He pleases.  We are not our own, we are the bride of Christ.

           If you continue on in Ephesians you will soon find another God-ordained authority that has been placed in our lives.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Honor your father and mother..."

Ephesians 6:1-2 

      God has placed other people of authority in our lives to protect us, our parents being one of those.  When you are thinking about ways that you can develop biblical beauty in your life don't be afraid to ask your parents.  They can often offer helpful insights.  At the same time, it is important to remember that there are probably certain perimeters your parent's have set up when it comes to the areas of beauty, dress and makeup.  Honoring Christ involves honoring your parents and submitting their authority.  There is great beauty in a young woman who is submitting to the authorities in her life.   

 

3.  Accept the Unchangeable

     We have all looked in the mirror and thought, "I wish I didn't look like this. My nose is too round, my eyes would be prettier if they were blue, my hair is not like so-and-so's" and so on and so forth.  After comparing ourselves with other girls  who are 'so much more beautiful', we start to critique the girl we see in the mirror.  The problem arises when we become discontent with the way God has made us and we wish we could change the things that are simply unchangeable.

 But godliness with contentment is

  great gain...

1 Timothy 6:6

    

     Part of learning to accept the unchangeable is thanking God for the things we would like to change. God has created each one of us and it was His hands that formed us in the womb(Psalm 139).  He is the one who gave us beauty and we need to thank Him for it, even the things we would like to change.
      The other side of the coin is that many of us fear a lack of acceptance when it comes to beauty.  The thoughts of what will they think of me, nobody thinks I am beautiful and I will never measure up, all stem from a fear of rejection. So this begs the question, "Where are you finding your security and fulfillment?"   If your security comes from the acceptance of others than you have every reason to fear rejection, but if your security is in Christ, the one who redeemed you, bought you and will never let you go, than what do you have to fear?  Instead of spending your time worrying about rejection, rejoice in the fact that The King of kings has made you His own.  You are a daughter of The King!!! This is where our security should rest.
     And remember:

"For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the 

outward appearance,  but the LORD looks on the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

     

4. How is your heart?

" Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart..."

1 Peter 3:4

     I know that we have already talked about the beauty of the heart and it's importance as first and foremost in our lives but, I thought I would encourage you to do a little self examination.  When I was little, my mom would often use the analogy of our heart being like a cup.  When we get bumped, what comes out?  Does the sweetness of Christ exude from you life or is it tainted with selfishness, pride, anger, and harshness?  Maybe it is time to ask God to do some deep cleaning in our lives?  Currently, I have been praying that God would show me the areas of my life that are not conformed to Him and that He would replace the sin in my life with the sweetness of His righteousness.  What are some areas of your life that need to be surrendered to Him?  What sin is in your life that needs to be purged?  When the mirror of our hearts are smeared with sin it is hard to reflect the beauty, glory and joy of Christ.  May we allow Christ to purify us and may great glory be brought to Him!!!

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me...

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew

 a right spirit within me.

 Psalm 51:2-3,10