Most cliche post ever.

It's funny how God takes things that I thought I knew, and teaches them to me in a whole new way. He teaches me things when I'm least expecting it, and somehow, it's completely new to me, even though I may have heard it all my life.

Where does beauty come from? The good Christian answer is beauty comes from the heart. Beauty is only skin deep. Blah blah blahhh.

As a girl, sometimes I fail to believe that. Or, even if I do, I'm like..why can't I be beautiful inside and outside?

(This is not going to be a post about me and how I worry about my appearance. Just bear with me.)

So yesterday, I was thinking about that, and God told me something: beauty comes from the heart. ...Okay, I knew that. But for some reason it felt really new to me. And so then today, out of no where, He says..."there's a big difference between looking beautiful and being beautiful."

Maybe you already knew that. But for me, it was really, really new. The statement can be applied in a couple different ways, but how I think of it is this: Someone can look beautiful on the outside, but you know, that doesn't really make them beautiful. You just look good. But what God said was true. Beauty comes from the heart. You are beautiful (or not) because of your heart.

You know what's ironic? I think worrying about outward appearance is one of the things that makes a heart sort of disfigured. I never want to say someone's heart is "ugly", but some things that can hinder beauty (maybe?) are jealousy, pride, anger, selfishness, etc. I would categorize worrying too much about what you look like under selfishness.

Obviously, everyone has some of these. You are never going to be perfect, and you'll always deal with sin. But that's not to say you can never have a beautiful heart. Why?

Well, here's the good news: Jesus specializes in beauty. He has the MOST beautiful heart. I believe that he enjoys taking sinful, grimy things, and making them beautiful. All we have to do is ask.

Honestly, I want to look beautiful. But even more, I want to be beautiful. And, luckily, I don't need eyeliner, a flat iron, or designer clothes for that. I just need Him.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." - Psalm 51:10