Smoky Mountains

Whether or not you have ever been to the Smoky Mountains, tonight you will get a good glimpse of real beauty. The mountains are nice too...

This is not a painted picture.

We have all heard the "speech on real beauty," and how "everyone is beautiful in their own way," but when was the last time you believed it? We are often blinded by what other people see, using their judgment to determine our self-worth, our beauty, and even our importance. We fail to remember that they are not perfect themselves, and that they are not able to judge us correctly. But it is more than that, because we value their opinion so much, we often let them and their opinion over-rule God's opinion.

So many people don't see how beautiful they really are. They can be told it a thousand times, and if even one person says otherwise, they think of them selves as ugly, or fat, or disfigured, or handicapped, or 1 of a million other things. All they see is the imperfection, the sin, the guilt, the past.

What do you see in this picture:

What most people see, is something to the effect of  "a beautiful mountain side in the fall." Do you see that? This is what God sees in you, a beautiful creation. What we often see in our selves, nothing but dead leaves. God sees what needs to be pruned away, he is not blind, and in his time he will prune. This is why we go through trials in life. If we did not have to endure the winter, how could we ever expect the sin in our lives to "fall away?"

In every way, we are and always will be God's creation, and he does not create anything by mistake. Through Jesus, our sins our forgiven, and God sees our true beauty and our lives perfect. That's right, in God's eyes, you are perfect.

Now, try not to get to prideful of that, (for you would be ignoring the title of this blog) but it is true. There is no "better-version of you." There is no guilt, shame, or sin, nor is there anything that is ugly about you. God created you, he designed you for a purpose, and he designed you out of love for you. Think of it this way, if you could make a person (without using your genitalia), would you create something ugly, or something awesome, would you make them just good or great, or would you make them perfect? If you make many of them, would they all look alike, or would there be defining characteristics?

This doesn't mean we are without fault, nor does it mean we were designed to fault. Crystals actually grow over time, and as they grow, they pick up the characteristics of the elements around them. We are much the same, when we grow up in a sinful world, we pick up sinful habits. Now the question is, does this sin make us look "ugly?" No, for it is not us, whom God hates, nor is it the Devil himself; it is the sin inside of us that God hates, he also hates what it does to us. Deceiving us into believing the lie, trapping us in cages of pain, suffering, guilt, and/or selfishness.

Each of you are beautiful in Gods eyes, your appearance makes him smile. So take heart, and be careful not to let others judge you on your appearance, because God thinks you are to die for.  =)