![\"1Sam16_7\"](\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/1Sam16_7.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOur longing to be beautiful has led us to compare ourselves with others.\u00a0 We have bought countless magazines, tried every diet ever created, bought beauty products just because our favorite actress or model is advertising them, our hair has gone through different phases (some days we want it short and straight; other days we want it long and curly).\u00a0 Still at the end of day we feel the same—we don\u2019t feel beautiful enough, tall enough, slender enough, and the clothes don\u2019t fit the way they did on the mannequin.<\/p>\n
It is not wrong to look beautiful. \u00a0 We decorate our homes and put flowers on the table. We wear perfume, paint our toenails, color our hair, and pierce our ears, all in an effort to be ever more beautiful.\u00a0 However, much of our struggle to accept who we are comes into play when we have bought into the ideologies of the world which idolizes outer beauty.<\/p>\n
The Bible teaches that every woman is made in the image of God.\u00a0 Every woman bears His image in her heart and carries within her the very essence of Beauty.\u00a0 Apart from God, beauty gets twisted, used, and abused.\u00a0 Being beautiful on the outside doesn\u2019t mean a woman has a beautiful heart.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I heard this profound statement from one of the sermons of Bishop T.D. Jakes, \u201cWhat is happening on the outside is a reflection of what\u2019s going on the inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Girlfriends, Beauty starts on the inside—deep down your heart.\u00a0 When you believe that you are beautiful from your heart, it comes out on the outside and it doesn\u2019t matter whether you are wearing yesterday\u2019s fashion or today\u2019s trendy clothes.\u00a0 Your beauty radiates on the outside and it is seen by the way you carry yourself, the smile on your face, the way you talk, and the way you view life.<\/p>\n Beauty that comes from the inside is what this world longs to see from us.\u00a0 It is such Beauty that speaks and people listen, it invites others in and makes them want to stay forever.\u00a0 It is beauty that nourishes, comforts, inspires and it is transcendent. \u00a0\u00a0It is this Beauty that draws us to God.<\/p>\n I want to bring us to the verse in 1 Samuel 16:7. \u00a0\u201cBut the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.\u00a0 For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.<\/b>‘” God gave Samuel an assignment to go to the house of Jesse to anoint a king.\u00a0 Jesse brought out seven of his sons and paraded them for Samuel to choose.\u00a0 Jesse felt that they were suitable for the job but each and every one of them was rejected.\u00a0 I am sure these men were tall and handsome, muscular, and probably had a military training as some had been part of Saul\u2019s army.\u00a0 As much as their looks and build were concerned,\u00a0\u00a0they should have made the cut.\u00a0 However, that\u2019s not what God was looking for.\u00a0 Apparently, there was another son, the youngest of them, who was out in the wilderness taking care of sheep.\u00a0 No one remembered to call for him when Samuel arrived so they had to send someone to get him.\u00a0 When David came, the Lord told Samuel to anoint him as king.<\/p>\n David was the least among his brothers and no one took notice of him.\u00a0 But the Lord did.\u00a0 The Lord saw David\u2019s heart<\/strong><\/em> as he took care of the sheep, the way he rescued them from the lions and the bears.\u00a0 David spent his time talking to God and getting to know Him.\u00a0 This time was not in vain because it was what prepared David for the role of a lifetime, Israel’s king.<\/p>\n This may be your story, no one has noticed you and has not seen how beautiful you are.\u00a0 You are the last to get the invitation to a party—if the invitation is even sent.\u00a0 You are considered as a chaperone for your sisters, the least to be offered anything.\u00a0 You long for someone to see the true you.\u00a0 Do not be discouraged because the Lord knows and sees your heart.\u00a0 He sees how beautiful you are and He calls you His beloved.\u00a0 Let your beauty shine because that is\u00a0the essence of who you are.<\/p>\n \u201cBeauty is the most essential and, yes, the most misunderstood of all the feminine qualities. We want you to hear clearly that it is an essence every woman carries from the moment of her creation. The only things standing in the way of our beauty are our doubts and fears, and the hiding and striving we fall to as a result<\/i><\/b>.\u201d\u00a0 – Stasi Eldredge<\/i><\/p>\n Be Blessed!<\/p>\n Jackie<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n LET\u2019S PRAY:<\/b><\/p>\n Dear God, You are beautiful and I believe I bear Your image.\u00a0 But You know that I don\u2019t feel very pretty let alone beautiful.\u00a0 Would You please come to this place in my heart\u2026this core place\u2026and reveal to me Your own beauty?\u00a0 Please heal the places in my heart that have been assaulted and hurt regarding beauty, and establish Your truth here.\u00a0 Do You think I am beautiful? How? Why? Please help me, Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s in Your name that I pray.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n YOUR ASSIGNMENT:<\/b><\/p>\n When we speak of strength as being the essence of masculinity, we are not talking about big muscles.\u00a0 In the same way, when we speak of beauty as being the essence of femininity, we are not talking about a woman\u2019s outward features.\u00a0 If God dwells in your heart by faith, and God is altogether lovely, what does that say about your new heart?<\/p>\n \u201cBut the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.\u00a0 For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’\u201d (1 Samuel 16:7). 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