How do you define Beauty? A beautiful person, a beautiful day, a beautiful song…

I recently went to a beauty pageant. I grew up watching the Miss America Pageant. It was fun to dream about being the most beautiful contestant and to be the winner. The problem was, I did not usually agree. I understood that there were judges who had the responsibility to make their choice but they rarely chose who I would choose. 

The pageant I went to was with little girls. They were all beautiful. Yes, some had been in many pageants and had everything from a suitcase that folded out to be a makeup table with mirrors to the power strips to plug in all of their curling irons. Some knew how to walk and how to turn. Some had very expensive dresses. There were some that were there just to get all dressed up and have fun. There were many in this category. They were precious. The pageant started out with babies. How does anyone decide which baby girl in tutus, ruffles, and bows is the most beautiful? Then there were several different age categories during the pageant. It was cute to watch the girls sitting in the audience with their friends waiting for their turn. The giggles, the twirls, the looking at each other’s dresses…….

 I would never make a good judge. 

I know that judges have certain things they look for and have a judging process. I get that. Yes, I know it was a beauty pageant. The judges were looking on the outside – The overall package, the dress, the hair, the makeup, the walk, the poise. All of the things that come from their definition of beauty. It was a pageant, after all.

It is just that is not how I define “Beauty.” Do you know the expression “Beauty is as beauty does?” One of the most beautiful ladies I have ever known would have never won a beauty contest. She would have never have even considered it. She was burned as a child. She never thought of herself as being beautiful and yet she was the first to help in time of need. She was the best cook and she took the best food to those who needed to feed their family in a time of crisis. She could sew and would make beautiful clothes for those who could not clothe their children. She loved the Lord. Her beauty came from inside. I don’t remember her name after all these years but I remember that she was always there and she could always be counted on. Her beauty came from the heart and from all that she was.

Are you beautiful? What kind of beauty do you have? Does the Beauty of our Lord splash out from you when you walk past people? 

Isaiah 52:7 NIV “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news…” 

Psalm 139:14  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

1 Samuel 16:7  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

I am not big on participation trophies either, but I was so happy to see that all of the girls received a Princess trophy. They were all beautiful!