Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,
We are continuing in the Book of Lamentations Chapter 1, and we are looking at reasons NOT to sin...In the last post we saw that sin caused affliction and eventual captivity. The third reason not to sin is that sin steals our beauty. Lamentations 1:6 says this:
And from the daughter of Zion All her splendor (beauty - KJV) has departed.
Sin robs us, girls, of our beauty! I can testify to this. I can look at pictures of myself in my early twenties and see the progression of sin in my eyes and in my face and even my hair. They make me sad to look at today because they remind me of my sin and how much sorrow I caused to myself and to others close to me. I am a woman who has been forgiven much and because of that I am ever so grateful for God's grace! So how was my sin reflected in my looks. My demeanor no longer looked innocent...my face was hardened...the lines were no longer soft because my expression was one of a woman driven by her own selfish desires. My eyes did not reflect compassion but had a hunted, haunted look that is characteristic of someone seeking their own. I had a bald patch on my head from anxiety. I had to style my hair in a certain way to cover it...it is a good thing it was the eighties and poofy hair was the style.
Our own selfishness (the opposite of love and God is love) is reflected not only in our looks but in our thoughts, words and actions. We become what we worship...most of us worship self...our own desires...and our world becomes smaller and smaller as we see it only through that one lens. Don't take my word for it...go to the mall...look at even the 13 and 14 year old girls and you can see what they worship and what they spend their time on...look at their demeanor...their faces have already begun to harden. Look at an older woman 20's or 30's perhaps and you will see the same thing multiplied. Watch a mom whose heart is set on herself and the things of the world in a store with her child. I know you have seen it and it is UGLY. Even if the woman were gorgeous by the world's standards her selfishness would so mar her beauty at that moment that most of us would not be able to see it. Look at a child who has been left to her own way...her face as she is being denied...it is not attractive. Taken to the extreme our own sinful desires can make us animal like and grotesque in appearance.
As we continue in sin our beauty is replaced by sorrow and weariness that come from being enslaved to things that do not profit. No amount of make up will hide it. We are not taking His yoke upon us (Matt 11:28-30) but the heavy, heavy yoke of the world of bondage to things that do not profit temporally or eternally. Futility abounds...our burdens become great and we multiply the trials and problems we face.
It is only when we gaze upon Him, behold Him, allow His word to penetrate our hearts, and worship Him can our countenance relax and His light shine through because we are now living for Him and not ourselves. His desires are on our hearts and we are not longer striving for the futile and worthless things the world values. We can relax knowing He is in charge...He is performing all things for us...He will perfect that which concerns us...and one of my favorites is that in the multitude of my anxieties within His comforts would delight my soul. As we go through the trials of life with Him our faith increases because we see with heart knowledge that He is always there, He is faithful, He does not afflict us willingly, He is good and He is gracious, and He gives us a future and a hope. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.--Jeremiah 29:11
Look to Him...put away your sin...Behold Him and watch Him bring beauty from ashes. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.--2nd Cor 3:18
Let your beauty be as it is described in 1 Peter: "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 3:4
Love
Mom
“The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”--Numbers 6:24-26
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