Growing Beautiful

“Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.”

–Proverbs 31:30 (NASB)

Here are a few thoughts on beauty and growing old…

What is beauty anyway?

The world may have us believe a woman is beautiful when she is stacked, racked, ripped, nipped, snipped, plucked, tucked, and liposucked. But true beauty comes from the inside.

Real beauty starts on the inside and comes out as we love others and honor God and His Word.

There’s something about a woman who has loved God, loved her family, embraced life with a smile, and focused on being the best version of herself. She seems vibrant as she ages, and even the lines in her face seem soft.

Age seems to make her better.

When you contrast that to a woman who fears aging, inspecting her face daily to see any new lines. Once detected she runs to the Botox technician. How do you even get Botox? I had to google it on my phone. I guess there are clinics, I just found that out. Amazing the power of the internet, we can find anything for the right price. 

I’m not dissing or judging anyone who finds a way to look better and goes for it. Not at all. I’m all in on that. Thumbs up, girlfriend!

But we’ve all seen women who went one step over the line and look like some kind of factory rejected plastic doll. You know the ones who have trouble talking because of the many changes they’ve made to their lips? It’s almost painful to watch.

We can be proud of our lines. If we’ve smiled a lot our face will show it. But if we’ve frowned a lot our face will show that too. Lines tell our story.

Lines show wisdom.

Lines give us character.

Lines shout out to the world: “I have lived my life all out.”

Instead of trying to hide our lines lets be proud of them. Our culture lifts up young and contributes that to beauty.

But I’ve seen older women who are exquisitely radiant. Haven’t you?    

This realization happened for me while I was at a conference. I was seated at a round table and directly across from me was a woman who was “older.” She had undyed gray hair. A bold move which many of us are too timid, or reluctant rather, to try. I asked her her age. She was closing in on eighty. Eighty! And she was absolutely beautiful. I told her. Odd I know, but I just couldn’t keep it to myself. She was almost eighty years old and gorgeous.

Right then and there I proclaimed to myself, “An aging woman can be old and beautiful.”

After talking with her my theory about aging was true and became a living reality for me… She loved God, loved her family, embraced life with a smile, and focused on being the best version of herself.

And she was beautiful.

Real and true beauty really does start on the inside.

We can be beautifully dazzling as we grow old.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

– Matthew 23:27 (NASB)

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