Divinely Beautiful

In Anne of Green Gables, Anne asks Diana if she would rather be "divinely beautiful, dazzlingly clever, or angelically good?"  

I started to write a long blog about beauty, but honestly -- what could I possibly say that hasn't already been said in a thousand different books written by a thousand different women?  

I know what I should say, and I know what God's word says.  

And yet, here's the brutal honesty of today's blog:   

Today, I gauged my beauty by looking at someone else and wishing I looked "like her." 

O! beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.
~William Shakespeare, Othello

I emailed my green-eyed monster feelings of discouragement and blechy-ness to a friend, and she listened, supported and then called me to the carpet.  

Psalm 139:14

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

I Peter 3:3-4

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Proverbs 31:3

Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

I can’t end this blog by saying “the verses brought me back to my senses and now I feel beautiful from my inner spiritual core,” but I can admit that I’m in process :)  And it’s good to have friends who remind me of Truth when I desperately need to hear it.