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A frown crossed Marie’s face as she stroked the brush through her hair. It was not exactly a describable color – it wasn’t a blonde, or brown, red, or black. It was just . . . some color. Her gaze left her hair and briefly studied her face. She tried to feign a smile, but her forehead creased with dissatisfaction. No, she was not at all pretty. With a small sigh, she turned and left the mirror.

How many of us are like Marie? The “girl in the mirror” is not nearly as pretty as our eyes would like to behold, but the “girl in the mirror” is the true, unchangeable “me.” A girl’s dream is perhaps to be slender, tall/short, with beautiful hair, and of course, pretty features. But more often than not, we stand in front of the mirror thinking, “I’m just plain and ugly.” In a frantic attempt to undo this insufferable ugliness we paint ourselves, changing what we can but leaving much more than we want undone.

When indulging ourselves in this vain self-pity, how often do we stop to consider what we are doing? The God Who told Jeremiah “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:5, KJV) is also the God Who formed us. The God Who was praised “for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) is the same God Who should be praised for His marvelous handiwork of our lives. The God Who made Adam in His Image (Genesis 1:26) still creates humans in His Image. The God Who did all this is the same God to Whom we are ungrateful for the appearance He gave us.

Have we forgotten that “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised?” (Proverbs 31:30) Even Jesus was prophesied as a man who had “no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) It was not outward attractions that drew people to Christ – it was Him, His perfect loveliness.

As Christians, we are to be like Christ; but too often I am afraid that we lose focus. Instead of perfecting that inward beauty, we look at outward beauty. Are we more focused on vain beauty than we are on significant beauty? Are we so concerned about what others think of us that we forget to ask, “Let others see Thee in me?” Is our physical face more important than the face we put on the title “Christian?”

If our aim is towards any beauty at all, should it not be the beauty described in 1 Peter 3: 3-4? “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Facial flawlessness and a perfect form may be what the world sees as great beauty, but here the Bible clearly states that the meek and quiet spirit is “in the sight of God a great price.” Is the value of outward beauty so great that we would trade it for God’s acceptance?

Nothing is more beautiful than a girl or young woman who is sold out to Christ, and there is nothing uglier than a girl who has all the “beauty” of the world, yet is vain, proud, selfish, and etc. Which are we going to choose?

Previously published with Incorruptible Beauty newsletter in 2009

A few months ago we had the director of BEAMS Bible Ministries (beamsbibles.org) speak at our church. As he was closing his presentation, he asked how many of us would dedicate to pray a five-second prayer for them. It was a strange request, so he went on to explain, “A five-second prayer is when you are mowing your lawn, doing your work, or whatever else, and happen to think of us; take the time to bow your head, and say a quick, five-second prayer for us and BEAMS Ministries.” The response he got after the explanation was vibrant consent.

After that Sunday, I thought a little more about the five-second prayer. Many times, I have had different acquaintances flash through my mind at odd times; could those times have been when God wanted me to lift them up in a short prayer? Though God’s Word indicates that we are to spend much time with Him in prayer, I believe that those five-second prayers are also essential. We do not know what an individual is dealing with at the moment we think of them.

Another challenge with the five-second prayer is capturing our thoughts. As I hear different news my thoughts tend to wander, often resulting in some very judgmental thoughts towards fellow-believers. Recently, God has convicted me with the challenge, “You can think about them and inwardly judge them as much as you want, but if you do not pray for them, you will succeed only in injuring yourself.” What truth! Now, as God helps me, when I am tempted to think badly towards others, I instead lift them up in prayer. The outcome is not only having peace in leaving the results up to God, but also having a freedom from evil thoughts and surmising.

What can be benefited by a five-second prayer? I am sure that we will never know. We should just be sure that we immediately obey God and His prompting

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. I John 5:14-15

One word that sends a thrill of excitement through any girl is the word “wedding.” Most of us cannot wait for that special day when we shall become the wife of a handsome young man.

The first “wedding” took place in Genesis 2, when God brought Eve to Adam to be his wife. Eve was a gift to her husband just like each of us girls will be a gift to some young man. How special it will be for our dad to walk us up the aisle and present us as a gift to our husband.

Here, we must stop dreaming and ask a sobering question: in what shape will this present be when our husband receives it? I do not mean will we be slender and attractive; we must look deeper – on the inside. Will our heart be pure and reserved only for our husband? Or will we be tattered and worn from living a life of “play” with every handsome young man we meet?

If you picture a gift, you might think of a beautiful package with shiny, unmarred wrapping and ribbons tied at the top. Change this picture to a young girl. She is pure in heart with innocence hovering over her like ribbons. This young lady reaches her early teens and her perspective of life changes. She notices that there are handsome, likeable boys that are more than willing to give her attention. So, she dangles a ribbon in their face, tempting them, saying, “You want to get a peek of what I’m like?”  This is called flirting. Many boys react to this flirting by accepting the young girl’s offer. Often, this step is repeated again and again, until the ribbons are all frayed, tattered, or torn from pulls by young men.

As a girl gets older, she begins to “date around” to find her husband. Instead of living a life of peace and contentment, her life is filled with worries about “Will he like me? What if he breaks up with me?” In the meanwhile, her wrapping is getting soiled and perhaps torn in places.

Finally, “Mr. Right” comes and the girl proceeds to her wedding. When her husband receives this gift on their wedding day, it is no longer the beautiful package we first saw – pure and innocent – with clean wrapping and delightful ribbons. Instead, it is marred and in need of repair. What godly young man would like to receive such a gift?

For those of you, who have not dangled your ribbons before boys; let me challenge you to stay pure! Do not worry about “catching” young men’s attention!! Instead, focus on serving the Lord and let Him bring your future husband to you. Purity is a gift that once opened, can never be re-wrapped in the perfect way it was before.

For those of you who have already spent your life flirting and worrying about attracting boys, may I challenge you to consider the path your feet are taking you! If the Lord is asking you to save your heart for the one young man that will become your husband, please hearken to Him! He will forgive and mend the broken heart and is so ready to help your feet find a straighter, safer path on which to travel.

“Keep (Guard) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:20) You have a precious gift in your hands . . . will you purpose to keep it pure and clean for your husband?

In the past year, I have browsed through dozens of blogs; some of you more avid blog-hoppers might have hit hundreds or even thousands of blogs. But let us narrow it down to that one blog – your blog. Out of the millions of pages on the world-wide-web, it is just one. One little place to pour out your thoughts, hopes, dreams, convictions, fears, laughter, and life. Your blog reflects either who you are or who you want to be.

So . . . what if I obtained your blog URL and hopped on over? What would I see? What should I see?

Let us jump to the last question. What should be on our blog? I mean, it’s just a blog. Matthew 5:26 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”  (KJV) I believe that a blog is an excellent place to shine! Not just shining, though – for we can shine in “look at how amusing, funny, and entertaining I am” – shining for GOD! When others look at our blogs, what do they see? Are they simply entertained, or are they encouraged in their walk with Christ?

What is our blog content? Can we pray Psalm 19:14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer?”  Or are we too busy making our words acceptable in a friend’s sight? God is a follower on our blogs. He sees every little sentence, every JPEG image, and even the motive behind each post. Is He seeing something that pleases Him and brings glory to His Name, or is He seeing posts that daily have lost opportunities to share Him with others?

Maybe in considering these verses, we need to also consider a revamp. As Christians, our blogs need to reflect Christ! As sisters in Christ, our blogs need to encourage one another in the Lord! Are we faithfully serving God with our blogs, or are we satisfying our selfish desires? Yes, our blog is “just another blog,” but we can use it as an avenue to spread God’s love!