THE UNFADING BEAUTY OF A QUIET AND GENTLE SPIRIT

All girls like to feel beautiful. The stories of beautiful princesses still lurk in the recesses of our minds. We style our hair, put on nice clothes and jewellery and add some makeup. We pamper ourselves, “Because we deserve it?” Hardly. But we do like to look our best.

But pure beauty, the kind that comes from God can only be found on the inside, and it is God who sees the beauty of our hearts. Without that internal beauty we are little more than a store mannequin. Because it is that internal beauty that drives the heart into action.

The disciple Peter writes “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV) That’s the way I’d like to be perceived!

Saint Augustine says: “Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.”

There is a purity in the beauty that comes from God. It is the purity of peace in the stillness of the new day as it breaks over the Great Lake. I see it in the beautiful creatures God has made, all things great and small, bright and beautiful.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

“The beauty of creation is a universal hymn in praise of its Maker” – Blessed Ildefonso Schuster

So my goal for this week is to aim for a quiet and gentle spirit, for that unfading beauty that comes from within. How about you?

Blessings,

Marilyn