Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Truth About Beauty

In the modern era, we seem to be consumed with the idea of beauty. Yes, I know that looks have always held a high place in mankind's mind/heart, but it seems in the 20th and 21st centuries, beauty has become an obsession, not only for people searching for it but for people wanting to be beautiful. What both the beholder and the beholden always seem to forget, however, is that beauty comes from the inside out. Yes, the physical attractiveness of a person is what most people see, but that's genetic; we have absolutely no control (without resorting to radical surgery) over how our faces are formed or how we look.

What we do control, however, is the beauty that is our heart and soul. "Beauty is as beauty does" is an old cliché, but it is absolutely true. Many people who are, or have been, exquisitely formed physically ruin that physical beauty by the ugliness of their soul and heart. Beauty is kindness, gentleness, meekness, lawfulness, compassionate, helpful, loving and empathetic. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were said to possess great physical beauty, but the ugliness of their actions obliterated any positives their physical appearance may have rendered. Ted Bundy was said to have "movie star looks", but the ugliness of his murders made that physical attractiveness moot.

Being a law abiding citizen who is kind and helpful to those around you, offering encouragement and love to those you come into contact with daily and being a dependable and trustworthy friend, relative or acquaintance makes you much more beautiful than anything your looks may offer. Jesus once used the following to describe a group of people, both individually and as a group: "you make clean the outside of the cup, but within you are full of extortion and excess." He was telling them that even though their outward appearance might be described as beautiful, the ugliness that was within made the outside appearance irrelevant.

People may look at you, without knowing you, and see the outer beauty, but anyone who spends any time with you is going to notice your inner beauty more than your appearance. If you lie, steal, cheat, backstab, gossip, betray, treat people with cruelty, break the law and otherwise do things that are not beautiful, then you will not be described as beautiful. The ugliness of the heart/soul will be what people think of when they hear your name.

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