What is beauty?

Well, beauty is a multitude of things.

While the definition of beauty has changed over time based on culture and various parts of the world, one thing remains—beauty has been defined in different ways as a result of beauty being found “in the eyes of the beholder.”

As humans, we yearn for beauty. We yearn to find beauty in the things surrounding us. We may find beauty in the earth. We may find beauty in people. We may even find beauty in ourselves.

Ultimately, though, we seek to find beauty in something. At the root of the things we claim or find to be beautiful is the Lord—He is the creator of all things and, as a result, is at the origin of all things beautiful.

Beauty is something we consistently strive for—or at least I do! What I have found though, is that, because beauty is defined in so many different ways, we must define where beauty originally comes from. For me, as I said before, beauty comes from the Lord. He is at the origin of beauty.

For so long, I attempted to create beauty in myself. I would starve myself, I would purge any little bit I had eaten, and yet, when I hopped on the scale, and my weight had not changed, I would be so saddened and disappointed. I would be angry with myself for not being beautiful enough. I sought for beauty in the world—beauty that was defined by a lack of fat—beauty that was defined by thinness. When I would fail at achieving this beauty, I would cut myself, believing that I would never ever be able to reach true beauty. Thus, what did it matter if my body was hideous?

I believed this for many, many years. It wasn’t until I learned that my beauty was found in the Lord that I was able to relinquish my desire to somehow create beauty for myself. It was in those moments, that I was then able to define my beauty by what the Lord said about me instead of what the world said about me. He calls me more precious than jewels and rubies. He says that my worth in Him is beyond price. He tells me I am His beloved. I am His child. These things, are what make me beautiful.

Just as the Proverbs 31 passage concludes, "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Prov. 31:30). Faith in a loving and forgiving God will be the root of any and all manifestations of beauty. He alone is who defines my beauty—because of Him, I am not defined by this world, but instead, I am defined by the fear that I have of the Lord. Physical beauty will fade over time, but true beauty, like the beauty that is described in Proverbs 31, is timeless.

You, my friend, because of Jesus, are beautiful too.