Pretty is as Pretty does

Growing up my dad always told me before I left the house “Pretty is as Pretty does.” 

He used to make me repeat it to him before I was even allowed to move out of his sight. 

That thought has been engraved into my brain. 

Pretty is as Pretty does.

What that statement has come to mean to me is this:
Beauty, is not just good looks, but is beheld within the person that you are to your very core.

Beauty is the person you radiate, it’s that inner thing that people look at you and say: “There is just something about them”.

Beauty is how you treat others, how you carry yourself, how you behave when no one is looking.

Beauty is Jesus Christ over flowing from every cell in your body into the world. 

Beauty is you.

I have never thought of myself as a beautiful girl. If compared to this world’s view of beautiful, I do not fit the most commonly thought of boundaries.

I am not a size 2. I have curves. I get break-outs. My hair rarely does what I want it to. There are features about myself that I would love to change. I work out, I like to have nice clothes that flatter me, most days I don’t even like to leave the house without make up on. I tend to pull my hair up about 10 times before I actually like the way it looks and quit messing with it.

I am your average, every day girl. 

Some days I am confident in the body that I was given and the beauty that it holds.

Some days I don’t want to leave my house because I feel so uncomfortable in my own skin.

Yet my dad constantly reminded me… Pretty is as pretty does. 

That’s because beauty… might not have much to do with my outer looks and the body I have.

Confidence has never been something that comes easy to me. I’m an over-thinker. Even if I think I’m good at something, I can usually think about it enough that I convince myself I’m going to screw up and usually don’t even try. I mean, what is the point if I am just going to fail right?

I’ve never really been that confident in my beauty because I felt I was inadequate to the world’s standards.

And I am. 

By the world’s standards. 

By human standards.

 

Here is the incredible, amazing, wonderful thing though:

I am not held to the world’s standards. I am not held to anyone’s standards. I am not held to your standards.

I am held to God’s standards.

I am a daughter of the King. 

And because of this, my beauty, true beauty, reflects Him.

Did you know that God created woman LAST? 

He created everything else on this earth, including man, and then decided it wasn’t good for man to be alone and created woman.

Woman reflects the true nature of beauty that lies within God.

Man and Woman were both made in the image of God and that is why in relationship, they can bring the greatest honor to God, because they reflect the entire being of God.

My standard of beauty is God. 

Whoa.

That is a lot to think about. That is a lot to take in.

 The stars, the ocean, the radiant colors of fall, the waterfalls, the most gloriously beautiful moment of your entire life… is the beauty of God.

And WE—WOMEN—WE are the height, the masterpiece, the final crescendo of His work.

So why do we continually try to prove that we are beautiful? 

I’ve done this. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve never tried to be funny, witty, sporty, sexy, super-christian-esque.

I have. 

Multiple times.

But when I think about all of those facts and truth about beauty and God’s creation… shouldn’t it just flow from me without trying?

Truth is, the more intimate my relationship with Christ becomes, the less I care about my outer beauty. My focus has shifted from my appearance to my heart, to how I serve, think, feel, interact, and love to the fullest.

Of course I still have issues leaving the house without make-up, I still want to be beautiful and feel pretty. I still like to dress nice. I don’t think that wanting those things is bad, in the right context. 

However, when we become so consumed with it, that all we care about is how we are perceived to OTHER PEOPLE, we are committing a terrible sin against ourselves and our precious, precious Savior who died to make us gloriously beautiful on the inside. 

When I think about that fact, I don’t care if anyone ever tells me I look beautiful again. 

My standard is Christ. 

He knows my heart. Way deeper than anyone else ever could. Even more than my future husband one day will hopefully.

And as much as my future husband will think I am beautiful (hopefully)… It won’t even compare to how Christ sees me. 

So I want to be beautiful for Him. I want to reflect His glory, His humility, His love, His sacrifice, and His holiness from the inside of my heart to my outer beauty that He has blessed, yes-blessed, me with. 

Every. Single. Day.

Let’s stop striving to be beautiful, and be who we were made to be.

I think we’ll all be a lot more joyful, content, and less self seeking if we do this.

Who’s with me?