It amazes me how captivated we are by beauty. Photographers will take shot after shot to get that one perfect snap of lightning shooting across the sky just for the sake of beauty. We are constantly seeking out beauty in our lives, even for a short glimpse of it. We have a natural desire for it. We also have a natural desire to create. In our creations of any sort we attempt to create beauty. There is beauty in our music, art, and practically anything that we put our hearts into creating. God created a beautiful world, and as his image-bearers he created us with that same mentality. But the world is embracing our sinful nature and polluting the beauty God intended for us to create.
We are no longer trying to create beautiful things. We are instead trying to redefine what beauty is and replace the beauty of God’s creation. In our world right now there are a lot of forces competing to be crowned as the “standard of beauty”. The beauty and truth God ordained is no longer of any affect to our world. We have rejected his truth and are in search of our own. I see a large movement of “tolerance” being portrayed as the new face of beauty and truth. But in its trail I am also seeing a mass of broken people getting walked on. This is our world’s definition of beauty. Every time we try to ground human dignity in something other than the image of God, someone gets left behind. It is the only kind of “beauty” that exists in a world without God. Every form of Beauty that we acknowledge outside of a worldview ingrained in Christ is on a path that ends. Beauty is only temporary in a world that worships the creation in place of the creator. Beauty without God’s truth is not beauty at all.
Christian culture is not acknowledging or expressing the beauty in our faith. As humans, we cling to ideologies and ways of living that express the most vibrant form of beauty. We as Christians are not demonstrating the true beauty of the Gospel to counter the culture of the world. They mock and laugh at the way we live for good reason. They don’t understand the purpose or beauty of living the life we do, and I don’t think we do either. They question why we would put ourselves in shackles to a life without beauty. Our words, our minds, and our actions are not demonstrating the beauty and truth God has given us. There is true beauty in it, and I want with all of my heart for you to see it as well.
What is True Beauty?
Beauty stems from truth. What good is believing in something that is founded upon unstable ground? Our society today is being greatly influenced by the idea that truth does not exist. They say that truth is based upon the individual and is therefore obsolete. A toleration mandate- which is a hypocritical ideology in itself- results from this way of thinking. We are merely animals living according to our natural instincts. There is no defined right and wrong that is weaved into our existence; no moral code to our being. Only broken, temporary truth is instilled upon us that is highly dependent on aspects of a culture that only worships self. What we deem as “right” is determined by the social elites who set the standard for everyone else. We are living in a time of social and moral anarchy. But it is the only beauty that is being offered, so it is accepted. The world will reject truth and accept a lie for their strongest perception of beauty. The natural desire for living beautifully in our own eyes will always undermine what is true and right. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says,
“In their case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
The mask of reality is being uncovered before our eyes, and it is reveling the ugly truth to the beautiful world we live in. There is no beauty in a world that has no truth. Why are you looking to the world for answers when it stares you in the face and says, “There is none”? We are broken; looking to a world that is just as broken. Jeremiah 9:6 says,
“You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me, declares the Lord”
There is more to our lives than we realize. There is a greater calling to our lives that is more beautiful than we could ever imagine. Lies and deceptions of truth are not all there is to life. We are not animals. We are not just human. The Bible says that we are made in the image of God! The beauty is in the image that we bear. It is an image that gives us the ability to love, create, and live outside of natural instinct. The true beauty of Christ reflected through God’s image magnifies all of creation and makes it shine. Creation has beauty because it has a beautiful creator; a creator who’s truth never dies. Proverbs 14:12-13 says,
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief.”
Lightning is truly an amazing spectacle, but just as the things in life that we often try to find fulfillment and beauty in, it can do you a lot of harm if you get too close. If you become so captivated by the beauty of things not rooted in Christ, you will get struck by its failure to sustain your needs and force you to move aimlessly towards the next. People are constantly jumping from place to place looking for fulfillment and happiness in things that lose its flavor. Our lives are too short to waste your time looking for beauty and truth in everything the world offers. Before you know it, your clock will be ticking its last few ticks, and eternity will be staring you in the face. You can either chose to continue in the hype the world offers to numb the reality of death we all will eventually face, or you can acknowledge that at the doorstep of death is the truth and beauty of our Father who offers a sustaining fulfillment and salvation to all who calls upon his name. True beauty is God, our Father; a God who needed nothing, but chose to need you and reflect his true beauty as well.
Softly Spoken Truth 