A Woman's Beauty

What is beauty? Even the word itself is aesthetic and lyrical. 

Poets like Keats and Lord Byron have written their perception of beauty, ultimately that beauty is its own entity: 

Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Rhodora"

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all 

       Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

-John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn 

I agree with both of these lines (though Keats' last two lines have been debated throughout the years) because beauty is who God is. I am currently reading Captivating and am continually amazed at how "beauty in and of itself is a glorious good." Is it any wonder that God created us for Eden, the beautiful, magnificent, perfect garden? 

Captivating says, "Nature is not primarily functional. It is primarily beautiful... Nature at the height of its glory shouts, Beauty is Essential! revealing that Beauty is the essence of God." 

Yet, even more astonishing news... Women are the image bearer of God:

"In order to make the matter perfectly clear, God has given us Eve. 

The crowning touch of creation. Beauty is the essence of a woman... 

God gave Eve a beautiful form and a beautiful spirit. 
She expresses beauty in both. 

Better, she expresses beauty simply in who she is. 
Like God, it is her essence." 

I intend to write more on this topic, specifically how women are to unveil their beauty to the world, but for now, go into the weekend knowing that you are beautiful. Not just in your character. Not just in your appearance. But in your essence, your "gentle and quiet spirit"(1 Peter 3:3-5).

A sunset over the city is magnificent and invites us to experience God's beauty. Today, invite others to experience your beauty, through letting your guard down, stop striving for perfection, and simply being who God made you to be. Beautiful.