When you hear about the “beautiful people” what comes to mind? Do you think of celebrities, the wealthy, or of physically beautiful people?
The media who label celebrities “beautiful people” also report on their scandals and troubled relationships. Life in the spotlight can lead celebrities to drug and alcohol abuse, struggles to keep their looks, and extreme behavior to stay in the headlines.
Surely with enough money the wealthy are beautiful? Money overcomes many constraints the rest of us have. The wealthy try to fill their lives with things, people and pleasure. Boredom leads to excess and trouble, but their money often gets them out.
Physical beauty is seen as a ticket to happiness. Who doesn’t want to be attractive? If that is the answer, why are they so miserable? Broken relationships, sex tapes and bad decisions seem to haunt these “beautiful people.” Other qualities of beautiful women are often ignored because of their looks. The world is ready to use them and toss them aside when their beauty fades.
Let’s look at another kind of beauty. We see beauty in the innocence of a child, but I met “beautiful” children who kept their innocence, even as they became young adults. They matured and were educated, surpassing their peers, but were untainted by the world around them. They got this beauty from their parents, who loved them enough to train them up in the way that they should go.
Another beauty is found in a mother sacrificing for her children. One such mother trained her children at home and then sacrificed herself to work overseas to support them. Living as a Godly example, her children see her beauty and follow it to begin beautiful lives of their own.
My wife is one of the “beautiful people.” No, she won’t be on the cover of a magazine or in the news, but her beauty is plain to see. Yes, she spoils me and our daughter and her family, but that is expected. I would understand if this woman who grew up in poverty was tight with money, but her heart goes out to the poor and she has to help. She gives generously “because it makes people so happy” or “because I would have liked for someone to help me before.” Real beauty is when she buys what she doesn’t want from an old lady “because it looks like she hasn’t sold much.”
This kind of beauty comes from our Heavenly Father, who sacrificed his son, so we could become sons of GOD. It was reinforced by JESUS who was untainted by the world and became the spotless sacrifice we needed to take our sins away.
Wayne Lance (2014)