We Don’t Determine Our Own Beauty….

Being a photographer I see beauty in many things, nature, people, and even discarded things. The one question that always gets me about people is how they treat beauty. People who are attractive (most of them) tend to use this attribute to further their careers. Some use it to manipulate. Some use it to mislead. Some use it to abuse. The saddest of all is when people use it to place themselves above others in self-worth. People workout to perfect their bodies. People starve themselves to fit into a 00 size dress in order to advertise the latest fashion. People abuse their bodies with sex to survive, because they don’t think they have anything else to make a living with. Beauty is so emphasized here in the modern world that it has distorted, deceived, and ruined the majority of lives of those who have bought into it. The truth about beauty, which I tell all my photography subjects, is “beauty is in the eye of the beholder, you don’t determine you’re own beauty.” If God gave you a facial bone structure that’s symmetrical, then what have you done to deserve it? If He blessed you with a body than has symmetrical proportion, what did you do to earn that? Yes, you can eat right, exercise, and refrain from damaging behaviors to make it better, but what gives you the right to compare your beauty with someone else’s? Isn’t God the One who gave you your body? Isn’t it irresponsible to use it to advance yourself ahead of others, because you have adopted the attitude of superiority over another human being? Fame, riches, status, beauty, and the list goes on and on. When we take something God has blessed us with, and use it solely for our own gain, and not for His glory, we set ourselves up for a life lived in deception, disappointment, and depression. This selfishness (the opposite of love), as Proverbs 31 says, “beauty does not last”, sets up a limited view of the world. It’s like viewing the world through a paper towel tube. What we all need to do is start seeing beauty in everything (pull the paper towel tube away from our eyes), for God has made everything. Beauty is a gift from God, and it is fleeting. However, beauty still rests in the eye of the beholder, and that Beholder is God. All that God makes is beautiful, even if the world refuses to acknowledge it. Acknowledge to God today, something you see true beauty in. Start by looking in the mirror. For let no man call ugly, what God has made beautiful. Leave beauty to the eye of its Beholder. Once you see the purpose that God made you and me, the scales of deception will be lifted from your eyes and the world will become a new adventure full of beauty and grace.

“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. “ Ezekiel 16:15a