Beautiful Woman, God’s Design

I am very excited to be a part of a blogfest called The Beauty of A Woman III, which is hosted by August McLaughlin.

http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com

When I started to think about Women and what makes them beautiful I thought about how God created us, how women were designed and wired.  We are beautiful creatures physically but also because of how we were made. Now, I want to preface this blog post with the fact that I believe the Bible is the Word of God.  I believe He inspired the writers and it is truth.  So this is what he says about women and His creation and I am using it as a reference to show my interpretation of the true beauty of a woman.

The first area I want to bring up is that we were “fearfully and wonderfully made” in the image of God.  We look like God.  He created us in His image.  That is amazing.  In Genesis 1:27 It says “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God is the artist and we are his creation, his work of art, and we resemble His Beauty. What a remarkable compliment that God loves us in a way that he wants us to be a masterpiece that resembles Himself.  When someone says to me, you look like so and so and they are attractive or famous, I am flattered.  But thinking about looking like God himself, well I am just in awe.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that women were created for procreation.  The fact that we can grow a human inside of our body is one of the most beautiful blessings on earth.  Giving life is a miracle. I could write an entire blog post about this but I will get back to the point.

If you consider the book Song of Songs, it is literally a love story and there are many references to the beauty of the woman and her body. “Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman’s hands.”(Song of Songs 7:1)  So do I think we are physically created beautiful? Absolutely. But that is not what makes women beautiful.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment . . . . Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:3–4). 

Have you ever met a women who maybe was not the prettiest girl in the room by looks, but she exuded this light so much so that you wanted to meet her and be her friend. Then when you met her she was kind, and exciting but had a quiet and gentle spirit so you did not feel the need to compete.  You did not feel threatened by her presence?  I have friends like this and I hope I am like this to others. There’s just something about women when we are gentle to others, we can really draw them in, and be authentic.  These are women whom I feel drawn to the most. My mother is a great example of a gentle spirit.

“She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness” (Proverbs 31:26, kjv).

Wisdom and kindness can make someone more beautiful than someone who is physically gorgeous.  I do not know how many times I met a pretty “mean girl” and thought I do not think a friendship would last.  The mean girl has so much insecurity that she uses unkind words to put others down. There is no amount of beauty, money, or power, in the world that would convince me to hang around this kind of woman. And I hate to say it but I was this kind of girl at one point in my life and I never want to go there again.  My mom always said, “Kindness is the rule!”. And I have to agree with her on this one.  You get more bees with honey, right?

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone” (Proverbs 25:15).

I believe God created women to be patient and use our gentle words to impact others without needing to scream to get our point across. With just a word or a tear a woman can pierce through a hardened heart.  I believe this is a gift.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30)

This is from Proverbs 31 and there are many amazing passages that I could pull from this chapter but let’s look at the truth in this verse. Charm by definition is a power of pleasing or attracting, as through personality or beauty.  But a word of advice, it can be deceptive.  How many times have we been charmed by a man, only to later have our heart broken because the smooth words he told us were a lie to get his way? I know I am not the only one and I know very well that women have that same power to use charm for deception.  As for beauty being fleeting, let’s face it-we all are aging, and the worldly beauty we all want to achieve cannot last forever.  Aging cannot be slowed down, even with all the products that are marketed towards us.  But fear of the Lord-that is an extraordinary thing.  When a woman fears the Lord she seeks to know Him better and along that path she turns from evil.

“I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes,” (1 Timothy 2:9).

Biblically, God has called women to dress in a way as to not draw the eyes toward lust.  We do not need perfect hair, expensive clothes or jewelry to be beautiful. That’s where I feel a lot of women are deceived.  The marketers promote “your not beautiful without this or that”.  But God says you are beautiful as I created you and those things are not necessary.  Listen, I love cute clothes and I wear make up but I feel the most gorgeous when my little 4-year-old son sees me in my pajamas with no hair or make up done and tells me, “Mommy, you are pretty.” That matters more than any worldly praise ever could.

“It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman” (Proverbs 21:19, kjv ).

Anger-it’s just plain ugly.  As a women, we are beautiful when we are not fighting, angry or out of control.  We have all had our moments but I would agree with this verse. Sometimes, I need to run to the forest and let it all out rather than let people see that.  Self control is a lot more appealing than an angry women. I am not saying you cannot share or vent with other women, life is hard.  But attacking someone who does not agree with you is never attractive.  You can use the gentle spirit to get a point across without hurting or yelling at someone else.

“The woman is the glory of man” (1 Corinthians 11:7)

“She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12, kjv).

I believe these two verses go hand in hand.  Being called the glory of my husband is an honor. A scientist named Benjamin Spock said this:

“I would say that the surest measure of a man’s or a woman’s maturity is the harmony, style, joy, and dignity he creates in his marriage, and the pleasure and inspiration he provides for his spouse.“

So in honoring our spouse, we are more mature and attractive to others.  If you cannot be repectful to your husband, how can others think you are appealing? You will treat others worse than the person you love and vowed to give your life to. After finding out I am having another boy in June,  I just pray that I can teach my three sons about inner beauty so they don’t seek a mate for outer beauty only.  True beauty comes from inside.

Women were created by God for purpose. Not only to procreate, but for relationships. We as women need relationships, friendships, love. We need to encourage other women, encourage our husbands and children, walk humbly and love people. Smile at a stranger on the street and I bet they will call you beautiful just for your small affection towards them.  Fellow women- be kind, gentle, and self controlled, and I think you may get the positive love and attention we women adore. Thanks for reading.