Beauty by the Book - Mended By Mercy

I would like to introduce you to my new series I will be posting for the next 7 weeks. Our women’s ministry at church started this bible study on Proverbs yesterday and when I found out the topic, I KNEW I had to attend. It was calling out my name and tugging at my heart. And it definitely is a topic that you all know I have struggled with: beauty and my attitude about it. For the next 7 weeks, I will have Beauty-by-the-Book Wednesdays and will share what I learned. The bible study also comes with daily devotionals/additional study. And while I will be doing these, I will only be blogging about the class I attend on Tuesdays. I strongly encourage you to find a group of women to do this study with so you too can do the devotions. I did my first today and it was soooo good! So let’s dive right in, shall we?

Physical Beauty Vs. Biblical Beauty

How many of us have bought into the world’s view of beauty? *raises hand* When I spoke at MOPS back in November on negative body image, I shared statistics that would blow your mind. We are pretty much set up to fail if we give in to the standards of our world. If we try to measure up, it will be all consuming. Laurie Cole, the author of this study, states “the definition of beauty in our culture is spiraling downward.” And I couldn’t agree more. But guess what. God’s definition of beauty is so different from the world’s view of beauty.

There are 4 key points God gives us in the Bible about physical beauty.

It is God Given. Look at Ezekiel 16: 4-13. We are born with nothing, naked and helpless. But God grows us and we “become the most beautiful of jewels.” We are His jewels and we are beautiful.
It is Attention Getting. Ezekiel 16: 14 speaks of fame due to beauty. Hey, its ok to color your hair, do your makeup and get all dolled up, unless your motives are to seek attention. Laurie Cole states that “Beauty is not meant to be a bad thing, but it can be dangerous. It is attention getting and you may begin to crave that attention. This in turn leads to pride and causes spiritual corruption.”
It is Pride-Inducing. See Ezekiel 16:15.
It is spiritually corrupting. Ezekiel 16:15-18 …ugh, yes it is. I speak from experience!

There are also 4 key points God gives us about biblical beauty.

It is also God Given. 1 Peter 3:3-4 –> Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. It should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. Isn’t that a WONDERFUL verse!?
It is gentle and quiet. It does not seek attention.
It is valued and precious is God’s sight
It is unfading and eternal. I LOVE this quote from Laurie “You can become more biblically beautiful as you age. Physical beauty fades.”

**Check out the rest of this series below**

Biblical Beauty: According to Proverbs

The Immoral Woman Vs. The Godly Woman

The Irritating Woman

The Indiscreet Woman

The Captivating Woman

Becoming the Ideal Woman