I’ve been thinking about the concept of the Imago Dei, the image of God, and how it relates to beauty. I think of the beauty of the female in particular and how she is more beautiful than all others because she particularly reflects the unique beauty of God in a way nothing else can. She is the the reflection of his beauty personified.
Yet my fellow men, I have come to realize that if a lady is beautiful in that regards, then how she expresses herself if it is really herself is beautiful. Her smiles that come from her are beautiful. If they are reflecting pure joy and love in her heart, then we should embrace them as beautiful.
However, we cannot say that only the expressions that are happy are beautiful. A lady is just as beautiful when she’s sad and she’s genuinely expressing that. Why? Because it’s just as much her. I think of the Psalmist who says that our tears are precious and that they are kept in a bottle by God.
Some might say, “Is all a lady does beautiful then?” By no means. If a lady sins, then that action is not beautiful. It is ugly. I think we can realize this in thinking about a beautiful female who uses her body to seduce someone she shouldn’t be seducing in a way she wouldn’t be. The physical aspect is still there, but there is something about it that is not beautiful.
What is it? It is not really her. It is a side that does not belong in the Imago Dei. Oh the part of sexual desire belongs. The part of her smile and body belongs. However, the aspect of her using herself as just a body and wanting to do an act saved for the confines of marriage does not belong.
A true lady though lives out her life as God would have her live it and as she does so, she is beautiful. Isn’t this the kind of beauty Peter spoke about in 1 Peter 3? Outward adornment has its place of course, but that is not where our true beauty should come from. It should come from a beautiful heart.
The question now falls to us men. Are we going to be godly men? Are we going to accept all of the lady as beautiful? Are we even going to accept the aspects that sometimes pain us? Do we not want ladies to be honest in their expressions? That which flows from true beauty is beautiful and that includes emotions.
We men are the ones challenged then. Do we realize how far the beauty goes, or do we avoid it? The answer is up to us.
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