The outer self is the body. We obsess about what shape our body is; pear, apple, gourd, stick...macho...etc. We obsess over what we put on it; Armani, Coach, American Eagle, H&M. The style it portrays us as: Punk, Hipster, Prep, Goth. Girls obsess over how to make it appear less flawed: cellulite, big pores, zits, dark spots, plastic surgery. Both sexes can obsess over hair: Up, down, curly, straight, pixie, long, blonde, brown, red, purple, green, blue, gelled, crimped, or frizzy. Just think about in general how much time you spend on yourself in the morning. I know some girls who will get up hours before they need to just to "fix" their apparent "flaws".
I go to a school where most girls spend at least an hour getting ready and that does not include getting in the shower and when they walk into class at 7:45 they look like they have been up for hours (which they may have been). Me if it's 7:45 class I get out of bed at 7:15 (or at least attempt), brush my teeth, throw my hair in a bun or a braid, and grab some breakfast on the go. Now after my morning classes are over I do try to spend about 20-30min preparing for the rest of my day, more like an hour if its date night. All this to say that there seems to be some kind of statement made when you get up to spend time on yourself and I have heard many reasons: 1. Well my body is God's Temple I should put time into myself. 2. If you dress up for the day I will be more successful (you know best dressed aced the test). 3. I just enjoy looking put together. 4. I need to look this way (in other words I'm expected to look this way). All of these seem to be good reasons, however, this idea of being outwardly beautiful in all aspects has been pounded into our heads basically since the day that we were born. So I discovered that my reasons for getting dressed up just a little for the day were as follows. 1. I was going to work 2. That night was date night and I wanted to look nice for my man. 3. I just felt like it. 4. I had dressed in sweat/yoga pants and tee/sweatshirt most of the week and well people were starting to mention it.
BINGO! Reason number 4 is the epitome of why I feel the need to dress up most of the times. I should look nice and professional when going to work that is expected of ALL who enter the work field. Date night is a big and well I don't want to ever feel like I should stop dressing up for him. And sometimes yes I have the time and just the desire to look a little nicer than normal. But mostly I get tired of everyone looking at me like I'm some kind of freak for not wearing a pair of buckle jeans and a fancy top every single day. I feel judged and in that I become self conscious and all my insecurities that I had as a teen flood back into my brain. I know you all know what I mean by the insecurities we gain in high school. But what bugs me the most about this obsession is that we, even as Christians, tend to care more about our outward self than our inner self.
We wake up a little later than planned and skip our morning devotions and justify it by saying I'll do it this afternoon (and we all know sometimes that attitude does mean it won't happen that day at all). Or we forget to send up a quick prayer for our day and for those we love. This isn't just something that I have observed. It's been me. I have been so obsessed with this idea of outward beauty and the attention that I got from wearing the nice clothes and having my makeup done, but I sacrificed more of my daily growth in relationship with Christ and my character development than in the end I was willing to sacrifice. Now I'm not saying that this is everyone. You could be very well dressed and still have a great relationship with the Lord and props to you, but quit looking your nose down at the person wearing sweats and a band tee to class in the morning. You can dress for success all you want but don't let your attitude become one of superiority. I have seen this happen many times and have been hurt by people that I thought truly cared for me because they commented on the fact that I could dress better. To the girl who calls her body a temple and so she should decorate it as David did; you can make the outside of your temple as ornate and colorful as you want, but God doesn't care so much about what you use to decorate the temple. He care much more about what goes on inside the temple: your thoughts, actions, the state of your heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'” Now in this case God was speaking about King Saul. You see his heart had become hardened and bitter towards God and he was no longer living a life that reflected where his kingship came from. So God took it away. Saul was afraid of losing his thrown to a mere shepherd boy and he allowed his heart to become angry at David he became so angry he tried to kill him more than once. And when Saul was presented as king the bible mentions that Saul was a handsome man, but as we later see his character and his heart were not so good looking. So look inside yourself are you letting your outward appearance dictate your life and your attitude and maybe ever your relationship with God and others?
Beauty is something that we all deal with and have insecurities about, and the crazy part is that I realized that its not just teens and young adults. This is an issues that breaches any generational gap. You see I have been called to change the culture of our world. I don't know if I will be alive to see the outcome of the movement God puts in motion through me, but I do know that something has got to change. This is my passion. Showing the world that beauty is not makeup caked onto a girls face or having a waist that if you turned side ways you seem to disappear. No beauty is your character. Beauty is love, grace, passion, kindness, loyalty, the attitude you take towards daily life, the way you allow circumstance to shape and effect you. Beauty is found in character and that beauty outshines a girl who looks like a supermodel with a bad attitude any day. So my challenge to you: Quit looking at people as what you see on the outside. I dare you to look into the eyes of someone who you may not think is outwardly very pretty or handsome and discover what you will find in their heart.
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, 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 3:3-4
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