Pretty Spots

The other day my 2 year old, sitting on my lap, pointed to my arm, to a brown spot and said “Pretty”

            I was startled at first. `That’s no pretty’ I thought. `Those are my blemishes’

            “Pretty,” she said again.

            My heart melted.

            I squeezed her. “Yes pretty,” I told her.

            Our world has told us we must look a certain way to be `pretty’… even beautiful. We look in the mirror and are our worst critics.

            “Ug, I look terrible.”

            “I hate my hair, if only my hair was like so and so’s.”

            “I’m too big”

            “I’m too hairy.”

            “I’m not skinny enough.”

            You know that saying, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”? And why is that so? Why can’t we look in the mirror and see a pretty, even beautiful person. When our husbands or fathers or friends tell us we’re beautiful, do we believe them, or just think they’re being nice?

            Psalm 139: 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

            If we are precious and perfectly formed together as babies by the hand of God, why do we criticize ourselves so harshly? Our Heavenly Father sees us as beautifully formed people… no matter what our size, shape, hair, eyes etc…

            Yes we need to take care of ourselves. Too much weight can be a danger to health; eating right is taking care of the body that God gave us.  My brown spots are a concern, because there is a history of skin cancer in my family, but this is me, and I must see myself through God’s eyes. I must look in the mirror and see a beautiful work that God has made… not in a prideful way, but in an accepting way. I accept myself for who God made me.

            And that goes for other people too. When I look at others, I must see them through God’s eyes. Not comparing. Not good enough, or better than.

            And there’s another thought to contemplate. OUTWARDLY. We look at the outward beauty far too often. But what are we inwardly?

            1 Peter 3:3-4 “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 the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (NKJV)

            When my husband and I were first going together I asked him what he found attractive in me. I didn’t see myself as being attractive and couldn’t figure out what he saw in me. Yah he liked my hair, but he said it was my character and the way I cared for others that attracted him. WOW! That blew me away.

            And when I think about very dear friends or family members that I hold in high esteem and see as beautiful, it is not necessarily the ones that have `the looks’ but the ones whose character is loving, gentle, caring, godly, and above reproach.

            So next time you're looking in the mirror, putting on your makeup, shaving your legs, plucking hair, going on a diet, jogging, etc.. remember, these are not the things that make you beautiful. They make you feel good about yourself, and it’s good to take care of your body, but they are not the things that define your beauty or who you are. They are merely outward things.

            YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON!

            Your inward-self… your character, the way you treat people, a caring heart… etc… are what define your true beauty.

            And those brown spots…. Are pretty spots! 

S.L. Kliever