DOES YOUR OUTWARD IMAGE REFLECT YOUR TRUE INNER SELF?

SCRIPTURE:
"Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." 
(Psalm 45:11)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever heard the phrase, 
“Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly cuts all the way to the bone”?
If you were to paraphrase this saying, you could say: 
“Beauty is superficial but ugliness is much more deeply rooted”.

In either case, it doesn’t sound like a pleasant phrase, does it?
It is meant to be funny, but it makes us stop and think, right?
We may evaluate our own lives and wonder what is at the core of our being, 
compared to what others might see on the surface.
We know if there is real beauty or ugliness deep within us.
If we are not honest with ourselves, then we might think of any ugliness 
as “not that ugly”, and in a quirky way, 
even consider it as what makes us unique.

But the important question we should ask ourselves is, 
“How does the Lord see our inner character?”
Is He ‘enthralled’ by who we really are (the person the public does not see), 
or is he repulsed by our thoughts and the things we consider important?

After all, what the Lord thinks about us and our character 
is much more important than anything others might perceive us to be.
He is the one who sees us “all the way to the bone”.
We can put on any kind of front and create any image we want others to see, 
and, as a result, they may not know the real person we are, 
but the Lord does.

Unfortunately, more often than not, 
we look in the mirror and only see our flaws.
Since God sees past our outward appearance to the inner person, 
He is not influenced by anything on the surface 
that we (or others) might consider as flaws or defects.
The Lord thinks we are amazing and wonderful.

He feels that way about us because He created us and He loves us.
That’s how love works.
Love doesn’t view a person 
as overweight, ugly, too skinny, or flawed in any other way.

In order for the Lord to be ‘enthralled by our beauty’ we need to 
spend more time beautifying our inner self (thoughts, attitudes, etc.) 
than we do on dressing up our outward appearance.
That doesn’t mean we should be unconcerned about our outward appearance, 
it just means that the real person we are on the inside 
is much more important.

ACTION:
No matter your size, shape, or anything about your outward appearance, 
you are beautiful to the Lord! 
You should embrace the fact that in God’s eyes, 
you are fine just the way you are.
Only you can change God’s view of the inner you.
How do you see yourself and how does God see you?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for making me the way I am. Teach me to have 
more confidence in myself. Show me how to practice defining myself through 
Your eyes and not my own. I am grateful and humbled to be Your child. 
Forgive me for any thoughts or actions of mine that have caused an ugliness 
of the inner beauty You created in me. I want to re-establish the person of 
character You created me to be. Forgive me of my sins, and change me so that
I will once again shine with the inner beauty You desire in me.”