A God Kind of Beauty

On any day or night, a young girl can be found before a mirror or an open diary asking: “Am I pretty?”

Pretty is a powerful word that has been the source of so much pain, and has led to many fractured hearts, minds, and relationships.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, someone who is 

pretty is “pleasing by delicacy or grace; [has] conventionally accepted elements of beauty; and appear[s] or sound[s] pleasant or nice but lack[s] strength, force, manliness, purpose, or intensity.”

The dictionary defines the word beautiful as a “quality…that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.”

So, prettiness is the shallowest and most conventional form of beauty, but beauty has an expansive meaning that can include exaltation of the mind or spirit. It is no wonder that the Bible portrays beauty as a transformational force that encompasses, but also extends beyond the senses to exude an internal sense of wellbeing, joy, and contentment.

After Queen Vashti was dethroned for not appearing before King Xerxes, the king’s officials launched a search to find a new queen.  Hundreds of young women were taken from all over the kingdom and brought to the citadel of Susa under the care of Hegai. The king chose Esther, a Jewish orphan. All of the young women were fair to look upon (i.e., pretty), but Esther had real beauty—inner qualities that exalted the king’s mind and spirit.

You are also a queen in God’s eyes. The Bible says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139).  Do not follow the example of women who smother their inner beauty with efforts aimed at making them outwardly appealing. True beauty is not about revealing clothes or breast implants. Worldly beauty doesn’t penetrate the surface, but Godly beauty resides deep within.

Before she was presented to the king, Esther underwent a twelve-month purification ritual. Her attendants combined spices like cinnamon, cassias, stacte, aloe, cedar and hyssop with oil, and then massaged them into her skin on a daily basis, softening her and imbuing her with the essence of these anointing oils. This purification ritual symbolizes the act of cleansing away ego so that inner beauty can shine unobstructed.

As a modern day queen, how can you purify yourself? By shifting your focus from the superficial to the spiritual, and developing a personal relationship with God who is king. Allow Him to soften you and wash away the hardness of sin, insecurity, and ego, so that all that is left is His essence and your beauty. .