When we are children we are taught to ‘not judge a book by its cover’, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, ‘beauty is skin deep’. All of these sayings are to teach us to not judge a person by their appearance but for who they are. We know this is right but it is sometimes much harder to live by. When I was in Montana, I was a Training Administrator. Part of my job was to train people to be trainers. Part of that training was on appearance and how to present yourself to a group of people. One day when I was attending family camp, I attended a seminar. Everyone had was singing the praises of the speaker and I was looking forward to hearing her. As I was sitting there waiting for the seminar to begin, I saw the speaker. My ugly judgmental spirit took a dominate position in my heart and I immediately looked at the speaker, and thought to myself, “Oh, this is going to be great!!!” I did not mean that in a good way either. The speaker was an older woman, and just wasn’t very attractive and put together. I judge the woman totally by her appearance and really just wanted to get up and leave the class. I am so blessed that I didn’t. This woman ended up being a woman of great importance in my life. I heard her speak with such amazing spiritual knowledge. She ended up speaking at two retreats that I organized. One in Montana and one is Oklahoma. I stayed in contact with her for over ten years. If you were to ask me today, who was one of the most beautiful women I know, I would tell you it was this woman. She taught me that beauty really has nothing to do with the external. Her inner beauty and total love for the Lord, radiated like a glowing beam from every aspect of her being. I was humbled in her presence. She so loved the Lord. She had never married and spent her life serving and teaching others, and loving them and the Lord with her whole heart and her whole life. Not long ago, I felt the need to contact her but I got busy with life and didn’t follow through. I finally sent her an email just encouraging her and telling her how much I loved her and admired her. I got a return email telling me that she had died the day before. What a loss this world experienced for I know there are thousands and thousands of people who feel the same way I did. However, her passion for the Lord and her spiritual beauty will forever be imprinted in my life. It is my desire to develop the beauty that she possessed. I know that it is only developed through total and complete dependence on the Lord. I know it comes from a life dedicated to studying God’s word. I know that it takes a commitment to love people. I know it takes a focused view of the day I stand before the Lord and to yearn for that day. I know it takes a complete satisfaction of whatever the Lord lays in the path for my life. Knowing what it will take, the question comes back to me. Do I really want to develop and possess that beauty? May it be the real beauty that I seek.
Let not yours be merely adorning with elaborate interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; But let it be the inward adorning an beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, with is now anxious or wrought up but is very precious in the sight of God.
1 Peter 3 :3-4 (amplified)
No comments:
Post a Comment