The Beauty of Jesus

You are beautiful; a wonderful, divine creation for sure; but I have learnt, that actually, this was never supposed to be our security.

We all believe lies about ourselves that shape our behaviour and beliefs. I believed that I was average, plain, unseen, voiceless and unimportant. But is the remedy to that to convince myself that I am radiant and beautiful and wonderful and capable? Should I be using that as my security? What happens when that’s not true? When I am not beautiful, or when I am not seen or when I do fail? Beauty fades, and there are times when I fail miserably. Isn’t the answer rather that Jesus is beautiful and radiant and wonderful and will never fail? And the fact that he loves me even when I am ugly, when I fail, when I am not radiant. That’s a much better security and a surer hope. My contentment now lies in something that I know will never fail, rather than fooling myself into believing in something that will eventually let me down; myself. The fact that his love for me isn’t dependent on whether I am beautiful or not, or even whether I am sinful or not; it’s dependent on Him, what He has done for me and the price He has paid for me. Thank goodness this never changes.

I think the problem is not even whether we believe that we are beautiful or not, the problem is that we believe this is a barrier to us being loved. We believe our ugliness or flaws will be a hindrance to us being loved and desired; which is our very deepest longing. Romans 8 explains that there is absolutely nothing that can get in the way of this. So then the problem is not how we see ourselves but rather how we see God. Do we see him as someone who’s love is only skin deep or do we really believe that his love is deep and wide enough to traverse all of our many faults and flaws and continue to love us to our core.

In fact, the lie isn’t even whether we are beautiful or not not; whether we are good enough or not. The lie that we have been sold is that we must be beautiful, or we must be good enough in order to be loved. It always puts a condition on being loved. And the answer then isn’t to look to ourselves, the answer is to look to Jesus. All of the lies that we have believed have found their answer in the gospel of Jesus. We have all exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Whilst craving what he satisfies, yet seeking it in places other than him, we have allowed lies to skew our view of who God is. A little girl hasn’t been told she is not beautiful, she has been told she must be beautiful in order to be loved and accepted, and so her deep desire to be loved will be expressed elsewhere; if only she knew that the love she is craving is absolutely unconditional.

And so dear ones; yes you are beautiful. But please remember, that Jesus didn’t die for you because you were amazing and beautiful. He died for you because HE was; when we were hopeless and sinful and literally at our worst. Let’s hear that again; Jesus, the son of God, the most beautiful and incredible being in the universe, died for you, when you were at your worst. THAT is how much you are worth, that is the price that was paid for you, that is what you cost. I used to spend days and days standing in front of the mirror trying to convince myself I was “worthy,” of being loved. But that’s a lie; I deserve wrath and condemnation; there is nothing in me that makes me worthy. But Jesus endured the unfiltered wrath of God for me, IN MY PLACE. That’s where my worth and value comes from. Jesus love for us isn’t vague or airy-fairy, it’s hardcore, solid, committed romance; he has already loved you all the way to the cross; there is nothing more to prove. And I have never felt more at peace since understanding this, because I don’t have to convince myself of anything; I just have to trust in what he’s done.

Praying that you continue to discover your deep deep worth and value in Him; He loves you so very much.