New Reminders: Beauty
by Ardith Hoff
Beauty can be described as a feature of objects, music, works of art or scenes in nature that make them pleasurable to look at, to hear or otherwise perceive. Scenes include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, a branch of philosophy. The perception of beauty most often involves the senses. Blind people can get the sense of something through touch, the deaf though vibrations and so forth. A mathematician or scientist might see a curtain formula or equation as beautiful. A chef might attempt to make his or her meal look beautiful. A hungry person might think the meal tastes beautiful. Cosmetologists, fashion designers and make-up artists try to make people look beautiful and scent manufacturers try to make people and products smell beautiful. The beauty industry is a lucrative business. Endeavoring for outward beauty is very popular.
Striving for inner beauty seems less important to most people, yet it is equally, if not more important. Inner beauty is something that can be found inside a person. It's discovered in the qualities people love and respect about us, which can't always be judged in a split second. Getting to know someone’s inner beauty, often takes time to fully appreciate. In order to develop our inner beauty, we need to first take control of our own thoughts. Thinking pure thoughts and cultivating a pleasant and loving attitude can enhance our personality. Only then, can an individual be truly beautiful. A positive and healthy outlook on life is attractive to others and makes them want to be around us. Projecting attitudes of generosity, graciousness and gratitude make us more pleasant for others, and even for ourselves, to be around. Grumbling, grandiosity and grossness are ugly behaviors, and they reveal unpleasant attitudes.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7. “Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in God's sight” 1 Peter 3:3. The Bible tells us that our beauty is not measured by the clothes we wear or how we look. Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the LORD [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised. "And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians. 4:24