True Beauty

True Beauty

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.

Isaiah 53:2

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

1 Peter 3:4

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:4, NIV

There is a saying that has been around since the third century BC: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” If this is true, then there is no objective source for deciding if something is beautiful or ugly—it is all a matter of personal preference or opinion. But is that true?

Built into each one of us is a longing for beauty. We get pleasure from seeing beauty in a green valley, a marble statue, or the perfect golf swing. We experience the beauty of a piece of music, words well spoken, or the taste of a ripe, red strawberry. Seeing and experiencing beauty all around us adds joy to life. But all these things are just reflections or pointers to a greater beauty.

God himself is ultimate beauty. He’s the definition of beauty, the standard of beauty that we judge everything against. And our longing for beauty is really a longing for God himself.

A great painting is beautiful not because of the isolated colors or shapes or textures but because of the way all those elements interact with each other. It is the same with the person of God. What makes God beautiful is not just his attributes but their relationship to each other—their perfect harmony and balance and completeness. All his perfections are on display, and when we are able to catch a glimpse of how they relate to one another, it takes our breath away. And we fall down to worship true beauty.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What or who is beautiful to you?

How does what we see as beautiful affect what we become?

Why do you think it seems a little strange to say that God is beautiful?