True Beauty and God's Love - Josh Olds

This is going to be an out of the ordinary post for The Christian Critic. This isn't a book review, or a movie review - not even a music review. It's not really even a review at all. If anything it's a review on God (don't worry, He gets 5 stars and 2 big enthusiastic thumbs-up) and what He calls Beautiful in comparison to what the world calls Beautiful.

This post is a direct response to an ongoing conversation I've been having with a few friends of mine. They've collected some of their thoughts on the love of God at their own blogs, and I would encourage you to check them out. These friends also pointed me to a blog post of a mutual acquaintance, a fellow Dekkie (Ted Dekker fan), on a similar subject. You can check out their individual blog posts by clicking on their name below.

The following isn't a direct response to Karis, Theresa, and Caitlyn, but rather it's an open letter addressed to every Christian girl. It closely speaks to the issues they have raised, and hopefully and cautiously I shall offer my guy opinion on the subject. Girls, this is from my heart to yours.

--

Dear Girls,

This is a letter straight from my heart to yours and I mean everything I say with my whole being. At the core, this is me being broken-hearted over the insecurities that so many Christian girls have and hold on to. 

At times, I might get a little blunt but that’s only because I want you to recognize how seriously I take this. I ain’t trying to hit on you, ain’t trying to flirt, and I’m certainly not trying to portray myself as the perfect guy – this is just me to you, and you can take it however you want.

Some of you struggle with the concept of beauty. The world inundates you with the message you have to look this way, dress this way, eat this way, be this size, be this height, use this makeup…and whatever else goes on in the world of girls that I am admittedly clueless about.

The world will tell you that beauty is all about what’s on the outside and that a hot body’s better than a warm heart. Guys in general (even Christian guys aren’t immune) back up that statement and objectify women in this manner. The world has placed an impossible standard on you, a cookie-cutter mold that the you-shaped individual won’t always (and shouldn’t try) to fit in. And the reason for this is that this is the only way the world understands beauty.

If there is no God, we’re all just pieces of flesh really. Evolution has to make sure the species survives and so our mechanical minds have developed a sense of what’s aesthetically pleasing, and then it’s those people that procreate and survive, allowing the ugly people to eventually just die out. But why do we as Christians live under this concept? Why do we make our physical looks our obsession? Did God really say that you have to fit the mold?

No. He says He created the mold. And not just a stock mold to fit all people in. Just like a potter molding his clay, so God has formed you-His one of a kind masterpiece. The Psalmist said that He created your inmost being, that He knit you together, that He knew your entire life’s story before you ever became to be. And that’s not just your soul—that’s everything. Your height, your weight, the number of hairs on your head, your insecurities, your struggles—everything. He knew it all and called you His masterpiece.

Now we all like to pretend that we know the truth—that true beauty lies within. And maybe we do. Maybe we do know that truth, but just find it hard to accept. It’s hard to shut down the screams of the world. But beauty cannot be extrinsic. You don’t apply a bit of beauty cream—ok, bad analogy—spray on some self-worth, and jump into a pair of skin-tight “feel good about myself”s.

The Christian understands beauty in a way the world cannot. We know that beauty comes from God, and that without Him, we’d have no concept of what was beautiful. I’d also argue that without God we wouldn’t exist at all, but that’s a letter for another audience at another time. The Psalmist calls God “perfect in beauty” (Psalm 50:2) so as author and creator of all things, He’s the creator of beauty too. As a matter of fact when He created you, He created you in His image. You’re the image of He who is perfect in beauty. Granted, sin has changed that perfect reflection so we only see though a glass, dimly.

But this is where the unmerited love of God comes into play. There’s nothing in you to love, you a broken-down depraved sinner. Whatever beauty or self-worth you have comes as a pale reflection of the effaced image of God in you. But God’s love is not stopped just because you don’t look beautiful. He doesn’t see what makes you ugly, He sees your potential—He sees how you can be made beautiful.

And that is why He has pursued you, not because you have anything to offer Him but because He has everything to offer you. And it was with the price of His blood that He made you beautiful. The beautiful image that was marred by sin was washed clean by the blood of Jesus. And just as your relationship with Christ has purified you before God, so it also fosters a heart that emanates beauty and exudes love. In humans, there is no real beauty. The only beauty any of us can have comes directly from being made in the image of the Beautiful God.

When you accepted Christ, you died to yourself. Paul would say that you no longer live, but it is Christ that lives in you. I can only speak for myself, but that’s what I find truly attractive. That when I look at you, I don’t see just a body, I see whatever extent you are allowing Christ to live in you. That’s how I define beauty. Now, I’m going to be honest and say that I’m probably in the minority of guys in the world, but girls, I don’t think you should settle for anyone or anything less. Maybe that’s arrogance on my part. Who you are on the outside is going to change, and I could quote any number of Shakespearian sonnets to back up my claim. But who you are on the inside, your personality—God working through you—is what makes you truly beautiful.

--

Alas! Fair maiden! For thou doth protest

All efforts to acknowledge thine beauteous form.

Alack! Mine soul cannot hold back—I must confess—

Thy beauty shines as brilliantly as lightning in the storm.

Prithee! Open not thy fair lips to disagree

Humility is becoming, but the bell of truth must toll.

Thy inner beauty has spilt over to thine outer so all can see

The purity and beauty of thy soul.

                                                                                                         Verily! Beauty outward delves but deep as skin

              But thine own inward thoughts of thine outward self doth show

                          And taints the beauty of your sparkling soul within,

                     Therefore, I beg thee, dear maiden, no longer let it be so.

               Remove thine lowly thoughts of self and thus purify your soul

                Flawless beauty—in and out—will make thine beauty whole.

Josh Olds

True Beauty and God's Love - Josh Olds