Threefold Beauty

Posted by Hannah Behrens in Featured Articles, Standards on 09 30th, 2009 | View Comments

Beauty

Not all women are Helen of Troy or Miss California, but all women are created in the image of a beautiful God. Should the attraction between the male’s eye and the woman’s physical beauty be suppressed or encouraged?

After all, before men see spiritual, or soul beauty, they see the physical beauty (or lack of) in a woman. Women long for men to appreciate their true beauty, which encompasses all of their being: spirit, soul, and body.

Spiritual Beauty

Spiritual beauty is the inner beauty that comes from the strength and confidence of who one is in Christ. Renew the mind to walk in the truth of true spiritual beauty as being whole and complete first and only in Christ. This beauty comes from knowing you are accepted and loved in the Beloved. Read Ephesians 1 for great truth on identity and position in Christ. All other components of beauty flow from this.

Beauty of the Soul

The soul is your mind, will, and emotions. Have you ever stopped to consider the beauty of a person flowing with the emotion of love and joy and poured out and offered to those around them? There is beauty in a child submitting her will to her parents by choosing to obey. It is a beautiful thing when a teacher uses her mind to communicate a principal or truth to her students. This is beauty of the soul and is free to be expressed when one is confident and aware of their spiritual beauty in Christ.

Beauty of the Body

Beauty of the body is one that is too often overlooked and sadly suppressed in many courtship settings. Minimum physical adornment often becomes synonymous for modesty. Modesty is an imperative Biblical standard, but it should not preclude physical beauty. It is often said that inner beauty will shine through and you don’t need to worry so much about your physical beauty. Yet, both are a reflection of each other.

Proverbs 31 Beauty

The Proverbs 31 woman is a fine role model of all three areas of beauty:

She was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet – physical beauty.
She also girded herself with strength and dignity – beauty of the soul.
She was praised for her fear of the Lord – spiritual beauty!

To deny the importance of physical beauty is to deny an essential part of who a woman is. We cannot overlook it when we evaluate courtship. Beauty could be one of the most pervasive thoughts in men’s minds. The male mind beholds visual beauty first. The female heart deeply desires to feel physically attractive to men. Beauty is important.

What do you think?

Is beauty important? Does your community over value or under value physical beauty?

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DB

"I'm not a big fan of telling girls to dress modestly. In a lot of cases, it amounts to guys blaming their issues on someone else."

It does sometimes, but there is, I believe, a right to do it. A way to say "I am a sinner, and I need your help. I am fighting a difficult battle here and I want you on my side, not a part of what I have to fight again."

And there is also a good place for the women to say "Men, let your actions match your words. If you say you want your sisters in Christ to dress modestly, but pay more attention to and spend more time talking with the girls who don't, you're undermining your own point and undermining God's work in our own identities as the image of God."
Sarah

Well said, Hannah! Great thoughts and thought provoking - we need wisdom and discernment in not suppressing physical beauty as being made in God's image (therefore, it IS important), but also not to flaunt it or be a stumbing block, either. One can hardly say that physcial beauty has nothing to do with inital attraction between a man and woman; it's what is developed over time in getting to know who a person is that the outward beauty becomes inevitably tied to the beauty of a person's heart and soul who is sold out for Jesus Christ and that is a beauty that will never fade away.
A1R2S3

Alexander "hit the nail on the head"! Although, I will disagree with him on the modesty part. God is the one who commands women to dress modestly, so if I, or anyone else, repeat it, we are simply quoting Him. I can't think of anyone else I would rather quote.

A woman who dresses immodestly has major spiritual issues according to the book of Proverbs and 1 Timothy 2:9. She is in essence telling the world that she is for rent, at least for a few moments (if not longer), to any and all applicants. A man who looks on a woman to lust after her beauty has major spiritual issues as well (Matt. 5:28). Reminding women of God's command to dress modestly and men not to lust, is simply trying to help people overcome some of the spiritual issues that the two genders face. After all, if woman would dress modestly then most men would not flirt with temptation as often, and visa-versa!
Bruce

Hannah is a great girl that I have known since she was a baby. Now in her twenties, her outlook toward life is consistently positive and says "all things are possible with God". She sees challenges that come her way as possibilities.

Hannah's world is big. She has seen the impoverished of Asia and Latin America and knows that their hope is really the same as her's, walking daily with the living God. She seeks to live her life so that it that makes a positive difference in other people's lives. She also knows of the struggles that many face from spiritual generational challenges that can come to many of us.

She is never satisfied that she has received or learned enough from what God has for her and her life. She is like a tiger who seeks meat but never gets enough to be full and satisfied and so continues her hunting for more of what God has in store for her.

Perhaps you think I am painting a too perfect or rosy colored picture of who Hannah is? You may think so but I tell you truthfully, that all I have written is true.

Someday, when Hannah meets her husband, he is going to find that he is gotten on board a moving freight train and that the ride they are on together is going to be wild, sometimes difficult, but I can assuredly promise that it will never be boring or status quoe. God has big plans for her, and together, they will be even bigger. It is fun just watching Hannah live out her life - it is better than watching A rated chick flick!

According to 2 Chronicles 16:19: The eyes of the Lord move back and forth over the earth, the He might find the one whose heart is completely His, that He might fully support him,

Hannah is the just the person. He can fully support her in her life choices.

Go Hannah! We are cheering you on!
Tom

Who is "Hanna" by the way?
Tom

Better:
A much loved woman becomes a woman much lovely,
Tom

"inner beauty will shine through" Agreed, I have never seen a bride in her gown that was not beautiful. A much loved woman is a woman much lovely. (my attempt at a chiastic structure)
Alexander

Physical beauty is important for both men and women. Everyone has a level of potential attractiveness. When a person's actual attractiveness is well below their potential it's a sort of instinctive red flag. What's wrong with this person? Is he a slob? Does she have low self-esteem?

Some people don't care much about their appearance and are genuinely great people. In a lot of cases, these people (while still being genuinely great people) have an emotional hang-up somewhere. Sandy knows she'll never be a super model, so why should she even bother trying to look nice? Jon was never very good at talking to girls, so he gave up on dressing nicely. Carol's father told her she was ugly when she was little. Rob's sister made fun of his hairdo. Sue thinks if she wears makeup, guys won't respect her as a person.

I think we have a natural desire to look nice, even if we don't have anyone to impress. As a guy, I see a clean, ironed shirt and some product in my hair as taking care of my 'temple.'

I'm not a big fan of telling girls to dress modestly. In a lot of cases, it amounts to guys blaming their issues on someone else. That said, I think appearance can be a red flag in the other direction too. Someone who is obviously "trying too hard" probably has some issues. But I think it's less about what you wear and more about how you wear it.

So to sum up, physical beauty is sort of a sneak peek at soul beauty.
Cynthia

I don't feel like a guy asking me to dress modestly is blaming his issues on me. If I am causing his issue, then it is my issue. Girls have a similar problem with guys (although perhaps not to the same extent). It really bothers me when I a guy does not "dress modestly". It bothers my spirit. It makes a lot of sense that guys would feel that way about girls. I am sure their spirits are bothered too. The fight against lust (on both sides) is a teem effort.
Vanessa

I think beauty is important, but that a person's spiritual beauty or lack of can make a difference in physical beauty. Where I live, I think that beauty is over valued, and I'm not just saying that because I am one that will probably be over looked, but when the value is just placed on the physical beauty, their soul and spiritual life could be overlooked. And someone who is a wallflower, could become more pretty, as their character is revealed.

Threefold Beauty

Spiritual Beauty

Beauty of the Soul

Beauty of the Body

Proverbs 31 Beauty

What do you think?

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