Beauty From Within

Greetings, my friends!

I give all the glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I just thank God for making me a beautiful person, beautiful on the outside, but most importantly beautiful on the inside. People often tell me what a kind person I am, what a humble spirit I have. My response has always been the same, it is natural beauty because God has given it to me--it is called favor. We do not all have God's favor of having beauty on the inside. Some of us are so very beautiful on the outside, the side that man sees, but the inside is rotten stink, the side that God cares about. I tell you the truth, I thank God for giving me beauty on the inside. I am not the most beautiful woman, but that is okay with me because what is important is that I have a clean heart that is pleasing unto the Lord.

In 1 Peter 3:2-4, Peter advised wives, "It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful." "No", Peter said, "your beauty should come from within you-the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit that will never be destroyed and is very precious to God." (New Century Version) My friends, let us not get caught up on the outside appearance--how good someone looks, how "foine" that person looks. Looks are deceiving and we must be careful to not fall prey.

In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord had told Samuel, "...God does not see the same way people see. People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart." (New Century Version) Let us fix our hearts, let us get the inside of us clean, so that we can have a gentle and quiet spirit, which pleases the Lord. I pray that God create in me a clean heart and renew my spirit because I thrive for a beautiful inside. If you agree with me, you pray the same, "Lord, please create in me a clean heart and renew my spirit." You know, I can remember my grandmother used to always say to me, "it does not matter how ugly you are on the outside, if you have a heart of gold, it will shine so bright that the heart is what gets noticed." I pray that when people see me they do not judge me by my outward appearance, but by what I have on the inside, that is, a gentle and meek spirit.

God bless.

Ta ta,
Therese from Belize