Biblical Beauty 2

Continuing our topic about Biblical beauty, as Saint Theophan the recluse explained "Sexual attraction starts by being mixed up with an internal need to what is beautiful". In last article we explained that the need for beauty originates from our creation as we were created in His image “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; " Genesis 1:26. Further the Bible says after Adam's creation that "it was very good" Genesis 1:31 and we showed that good here means beautiful 1. We also explained that youth longs for beauty to fill his/her inner emptiness because of sin, and we detailed how sinful lifestyle never fulfills but the opposite leaves you more empty. Satisfaction is only through a personal relationship with the lords, who fills our emptiness and satisfies our souls. "A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, But to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet." Proverbs 27:7.​ Then we illustrated the agreement between science and the Bible as Maslow said "The self only finds its actualization in giving itself to some higher goal outside oneself, in altruism and spirituality, which is essentially the desire to reach infinite"4 Lastly, we concluded the article by warning against the dangers of excessive amusement.

Now, let's delve into Bible seeking to understand Beauty. What I am doing may sound boring because it's the same topic I talk about last article. However, I have learned to stop reading the Bible superficially; Jesus said "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." Luke 5:4. In this verse Jesus was directing Saint Peter after he "toiled all night and caught nothing" Luke 5:5. I recall feeling tired, perplexed because of lies that society was selling to me back in my teenage years. I invested my energy and time in sin and what was the result?! I "caught nothing" . Porn addiction, left me drained, confused and in more pain. Author Leah Darrow who's a former contestant on America's Next Top Model wrote in her book titled "The other side of Beauty" saying "I had found my worth in the world and its definition of beauty, but it had only led me to despair. It was killing me emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Every photo shoot, every red-carpet event, every date with a new guy, every outfit I put on—all of it had been dependent on how I looked or how my life looked to others. My pursuit for happiness had been based on the exterior. But in doing this, I had neglected the deepest desire of my heart and had abandoned my faith—all because I was afraid God wouldn’t really give me the beautiful life I wanted so badly. I feared his path to happiness would be filled with boring days, not-cute guys, and possibly wearing itchy brown-plaid ensembles. No thank you"2. See how destructive sin is! Other cases are very similar; parents who invest their energy in work to make money and ignore their kids. What's the result?! They "caught nothing" kids perish and money will never satisfy. If you invest your energy in sin, you will end up with "nothing" ! Trust me taking the beautiful risk and launching into the deep is very rewarding and you will be "astonished at the catch of fish" Luke 5:9. Jesus said "search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." John 5:39. The word search in Strong's concordance means "to seek, to investigate, to search to examine". You can see a process here; not a quick shallow reading. There is also a reward because you will find Jesus. Saint John Chrysotom said "Many indeed before us have spoken on this subject [scripture], and many also perhaps will speak after us; but no one will be able to empty all its wealth. Such is the nature of this abundance: the deeper you dig, the more divine thoughts will gush forth, for it is a never-failing spring"6

Now let's go back to Genesis 1 trying to understand what Biblical beauty is? “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; " Genesis 1:26.​ Saint Augustine said “He made him in the image of God.” One who is made in the image of God has the task of becoming who he is". True beauty is in becoming His image which are in moral excellence like: kindness, self control, love, joy, peace, faith and the list goes forever "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" Ephesians 4:13. We are facing a big crisis, that Christians are now satisfied by conforming to society standards not to "the stature of the fullness of Christ". Christians think about what's legal not what's Biblical; what's legal isn't necessarily Biblical. History proves that what's Biblical many times was made illegal! Pornography is legal! Abortion is legal! Gay marriage is now legal! The list goes on and on. Yes the Bible said to obey the law "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities" Romans 13:1. However, in a condition that the law doesn't contradict the Bible. When Saint Peter was asked by a legal authority to stop preaching the Bible, he answered “We must obey God rather than men" Acts 5:29. Because we chose to conform to society standards not Biblical standards; we end up being as ugly as the society is, not as beautiful as "the stature of the fullness of Christ".

Michelangelo said "The greatest danger in life to us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving the mark". Unfortunately, Christians are aiming too low in everything. It's so sad that Christians are striving to be at the same level as society while we are supposed to be light to the world. Society is brain washing our kids and we are doing nothing. Author Leah Darrow said "Starting when I was young, I was brain-washed into believing that my worth was wrapped up how I looked. After all, from what I had seen in life beauty seemed to be everything, and love seemed to be given in response to beauty."2

Let's go back to Godly beauty that is clearly demonstrated in nuns. The Virgins who chose to dedicate their life to Christ the true bridegroom. Personally, I look at nuns and see them beautiful; I enjoy listening to the departed Tamav Ireny. When nuns talk, you can see the inner beauty which is more admirable and peaceful that earthly beauty. I recall feeling mad and angry after watching porn because it's evil. These beautiful nuns chose to follow the true beauty that Saint Peter described "Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.​" 1 Peter 3:3-4. Notice true beauty is in the hidden person of the heart and is brought out by kindness, generosity, joy, peace, patience and faith. True beauty comes from a beautiful soul in His image not from a hair cut, muscular body, Nike, Gucci, glitter, stilettos, lip gloss, Louis Vuitton or concealer. The beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit is better, deeper, and more lasting than earthly beauty. I never recall seeing my grandma putting makeup and she was always so beautiful in my eyes. My grandma was a true godly woman that prayed and read the Bible daily. I saw in grandma the inner beauty of soul that I learned from; compared to the outside beauty of body that I consumed.

Author, speaker, and television host Susan Conroy met Mother

Teresa, and the encounter changed her life. Susan said, I had never met anyone in my life as humble as Mother Teresa. She was as humble as the poor whom we would lift up out of the gutters. Her humility was strikingly beautiful to me. Mother Teresa embodied so many other qualities as well, qualities that are all too rare in the world today. I wished that I could have brought her home with me, shown her to everyone, and said: “Just look at her!” Her appearance, her spirit, and her presence spoke a thousand words about integrity, about God, about true beauty, about inner strength, about love. What was the beauty people saw in this small, wrinkled woman? I believe the beauty they saw was the love of Christ made manifest in the flesh of Mother Teresa. She was beautiful because she loved. She loved because Christ loved her, as he does all of us. Mother Teresa lived her life with a deep awareness of God’s love for her and God’s presence in everyone she met. She often said that the poor were Jesus in disguise. She firmly believed she was caring for Jesus himself in every single man, woman, and child she encountered. This made her beautiful. Not her figure, not her clothes, but her heart on fire with the light of Christ. Unfortunately, more often than not, we struggle to live with this kind of true beauty.2

Back to Genesis 1 "Then God saw everything that He had made, and

indeed it was very good" Genesis 1:31. Saint Augustine commented on this verse saying "For individually they were only good, but all taken together they were both good and very good. All beautiful bodies also express this; for a body which consists of members, all of which are beautiful, is by far more beautiful than the several members individually are by whose well-ordered union the whole is completed, though these members also be severally beautiful."3 First, notice that true beauty is natural, authentic, not artificial and not dependent on external earthly elements. I have seen many teens obsessed with the way they look, and spend hours creating artificial beauty that never fulfills. Instead of adding elements to make us beautiful we should search within ourselves for the creator and origin of beauty as Jesus said "Indeed the kingdom of God is within you"Luke 17:21. We are created in His image and the Kingdom of God is within us we shouldn't reach to earthly beauty. Saint Paul explained the proper way for makeup saying "the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works" 1 Timothy 2:9. Observe here the term costly, true beauty isn't expensive or for rich people only. True beauty is for free by professing godliness and good works.

Second, true beauty is diverse, not following a standard of beauty. When God looked at creation in all; He saw it very good. Each element is good; the elephant is beautiful, so is the peacock and the pig. Beauty is not limited in a single standard but multiple. We live in a world of imitation beauty that treat us like objects and limits our value to the way we look. It's so humiliating when a large number of men and women copy a fashion trend that's not made for them. Fashion industry is continuously changing beauty standards, and pointing at our body flaws to keep us addicted to beauty, never satisfied and never stop chasing beauty. Author Leah Darrow wrote in her book saying "Anxiety, low self-esteem, distorted body image, and depression—these among others were what I discovered to be the natural consequences of chasing after imitation beauty and accepting my subsequent objectification. I thought beauty would be liberating, but instead I became a slave to its power, a minion in the world of distorted beauty that steals our joy, our courage, and our sense of worth."2 Truly the Bible said "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

Third, true beauty has an element of unity and not selfish. Notice Saint Augustine said "by well-ordered union the whole is completed, though these members also be severally beautiful."3 My beauty isn't dependent on someone else's ugliness or other's beauty isn't a threat to my beauty. True beauty values other beauty and works on unity so we all reach "the stature of the fullness of Christ". The Bible says "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4. I would add that true beauty learns from others Saint Ambrose said "From the good in nature one can apprehend the supreme and everlasting good" Beautiful spirits that we meet are a learning opportunity for us. If God is calling us to observe nature's beauty so we can learn about him; how much more we should learn from other beautiful spirits. Notice that we learn from true beauty, however we consume earthly beauty. Would you like people to learn from you or consume you?

Let me conclude by saying that true beauty is God's desire! Yes God is longing for true beauty.

Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

This verse is regarded by Bible scholars as a prophecy about Saint Mary; the queen of true beauty. Who found favor in God's eyes because of her Godly beauty. Saint John Chrysotom commented on this verse saying “And the king will desire your beauty. Note that the reference is not to beauty of body: if you do this, he is saying, then you will be beautiful, then the king will desire your beauty. Beauty of body, of course, does not have this effect. Among unbelievers, after all, we see beauty of body, and pagan women who are handsome. For you to learn, however, that the reference is not to beauty of body, he says it arises from obedience to him; obedience, however, gives rise not to beauty of body but to beauty of soul. If you do this, he says, note, then you will be beautiful, then you will be desirable to the groom.”5

In the Coming article we will talk about Godly Beauty as stated in Psalm 27

One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.

Sources

1- Strong Condordance

The term good here is the Jewish word טוב pronounced "tobe" which means good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a {noun} both in the masculine and the {feminine} the singular and the plural ({good } a good or good {thing} a good man or woman; the {good} goods or good {things} good men or {women}) also as an adverb (well): - {beautiful}

2-"The other side of Beauty: Embracing God's Vision for and True worth" Leah Darrow

3- Genesis 1-11 (Ancient Christian Commentary) Andrew Louth

4. Maslow's hierarchy of needsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

5- "St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Psalms" Robert Charles Hill

6- "St. John Chrysostom, On wealth and poverty" Catharine P Roth

#Lazarus #beauty #bible