The Beautiful Truth

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.

When I was growing up, my mom often shopped at garage sales to find clothes for all three of us girls. One year, my sister wanted a pair of Girbaud jeans—which were all the rage at school—but they were deemed too expensive to buy at the regular price. My mom was so excited when she ran across a pair in my sister’s size at a garage sale and brought them home.

While trends change throughout the years, they are a small part of the larger story we tell ourselves about beauty, image, and identity. Culture bombards us with feelings of being at once “too much” and “not enough,” and we are battered by ever-shifting standards. Our clothing, body, face, age, cultural heritage, and race are constantly sized up, critiqued, or diminished, but none of these things get to decide our worth.

One way we can reset the narrative is by choosing to see ourselves—inside and out—the way that Jesus sees us. A beautiful prayer written by Macrina Wiederkehr turns our understanding of beauty on its head: “Help me believe the truth about myself, no matter how beautiful it is!”^a

Our secret worry is that if people really knew us, they’d be disgusted by the ugliness inside of us. But the truth is that we are lovely and loved, just as we are. Consider, for a moment, your closest friends: Do you think they’re beautiful? Would an internal struggle they face change the way you see them? If the answer to those questions is a respective yes and no, we need to reconsider how we view ourselves. If we’re willing to extend grace to our friends, can we not extend that same grace to ourselves?

Song of Solomon details a romantic relationship between the king and his bride, and he tells her that she’s beautiful. Flawless. Of course, as the church, we’re often compared to the bride of Christ. And if that’s true, then doesn’t it also follow that this is the way Jesus regards us, too—as beautiful? Let’s spend time in God’s Word and see ourselves through the lens of his love. When we do, we’ll be able to recognize the beautiful truth about ourselves.

Kristin

Today’s Act of Gratitude

List three things you like about yourself. Thank God for creating these parts of you.