Today, I’m honored to host the amazing, Patty Wysong who is sharing about beauty. Thank you, Patty for being here today!
As women, we have a natural bent for beauty. We love it and long for it. As Christian women we are very aware of the two kinds of beauty–physical beauty and inner beauty. How many times have we seen a beautiful woman and admired her beauty—until she took off her sunglasses or opened her mouth? And other times we’ve met a woman whose inner beauty shined so brightly that it far surpassed her outer beauty.
Those women made an impression on us and we remembered their inner beauty much longer than their lack of physical beauty.
What makes a woman beautiful even when her hair is snarly and she’s wearing a plaid polyester pantsuit? A heart that’s full of her Savior and Lord. A heart that’s glowing for God. A heart that’s overflowing with praise.
The Bible tells us what is beautiful:
Praise! It’s something everyone can do. It’s a matter of making the choice to praise rather than complain. Praising God takes our eyes off ourselves and puts them on the One we are praising. Self-absorbed people are not happy people, they’re miserable. God-absorbed people are able to praise even when life stinks. It gives them a measure of joy even during the unhappy times.
We work hard at beauty–our own beauty and the beauty that surrounds us, whether it’s our home or work place. But do we put as much time and thought and effort into our inner beauty? Sometimes that inner beauty is as simple as choosing to praise God—whether we feel like it or not. That praise shines through us and God rejoices.
God rejoices in us, His bride, and He has a special name for us: Hephzibah. It’s found in Isaiah 62:4. But you will be called, “My delight is in her,” and the margin note says Hephzibah. My baby name book agrees with the margin note, too. Proverbs assures us that a good name Proverbs 22:1 is more desirable than great wealth. “My delight is in her.” Sounds to me like a pretty cool name to be called! Hephzibah. It has quite a ring to it.
Let’s be sure to beautify our lives with praise for our great God so we can live up to the name He has given us.
Hephzibah
My delight is in her.
Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. ~Psalm 22:3
her life and surrendered her pen to Him, she’s been happy. Life is never dull
as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, a Bible study
facilitator, an online blogging class teacher, a blog designer, a website
manager, and a writer. As long as she’s obeying God’s leading, she figures that
sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God
will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living
with the scaredy cats at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting.
She would love to visit with you online on her blog, Patterings, Facebook, and Twitter.
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| I’m hosting at Living By Grace and I’d love for you to come by and chat! |
Lovely, lovely post!
I met a woman over the weekend who displayed inner beauty and outer beauty at the age of 84.
My grandma was one of the most beautiful people I knew, even with her thinning gray hair, barrel shape, and gnarled fingers. Her kindness and love of Jesus drew so many to her. Even though she's been gone for 27 years, I still miss her terribly.
Lisa, isn't it wonderful to be with those women who radiate that inner beauty? What an example for us. You're so fortunate to have a grandma like you did. Treasure those memories.
Honesty and openness…but in a way that edifies another person, not puts them down.
Yes! Honesty and openness in a way that edifies–in a world where put-downs are the norm, that building up is a rare gift.
I love meeting a truly beautiful woman – she shines in the most incredible way. I love a woman who, like in Proverbs 31:25 "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." A woman who isn't afraid of what her life will be – she is confident in the Lord.
It's amazing what fear does to us, and not in a good way. =[ Being confident in the Lord lifts the fear and that creates a true beauty. I love how you tied the two together, Gabrielle.
I think one of the most beautiful traits in women is laughter. Everybody has her own laugh…and I love how just hearing someone's laugh can tell you so much about her.
Melissa, you are so right. I've heard that many times from men, young and old alike. Laughter truly is good medicine, isn't it?
I love smiles. They have a way of letting a person's inner beauty show on the outside.
Miss Bea, a lady in our church, lived to close to 100 and had not had an easy life. In spite of that, her face had wrinkled into a permanent smile, giving all knew meaning to the old saying "your face will freeze that way!" Her smile radiated her true beauty…
Surrender – to God. That's beauty to me. Loved this post today. Think I'll start calling myself Hephie;)
Oh Susan. Yes. Surrendering to God truly creates an inner beauty.
Something beautiful about women…guess I always look at the eyes. Eyes are the windows to the soul, as they say. I love finding women with happy eyes, and I hope mine look that way (at least from time to time!).
So often I see cold or empty eyes and it gives me chills at times. What a joy it is to find joyful eyes, especially when you know the storm is raging in their life. I hope mine are joyful too, Heather!
For me it's being real – not puttng up a front – but being oneself through and through.
Doesn't that sound so easy? Just being real and being 100% myself…but it's HARD!! It's so much easier glossing over the hard or ugly parts and just letting the world (friends!) see the part of yourself you want them to see. There's so much vulnerability that comes with being real…but often that's when we allow God to work through us and shine through our brokenness. So important. Thanks for pointing that out, Stacy!
I love this, ladies! God is good at reminding how much He's given me and that I have no reason to gripe—only thank Him!
You are so right, Sarah! We are so abundantly blessed! What a great, GREAT God we have!!
Thanks so much for having me, Jesse! =]
Hugs!!
Oh my goodness, Jesse. These are amazing ladies!! Thank you so much for sharing with me for a day. What a huge blessing and encouragement they've been to me!
Hugs all around!!