As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. -- Isaiah 55:10-11

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Beautiful Women Part 2--The Double Standard

As some of you noticed or realized when looking up the women I listed, nowhere does God mention their weight or size. Nowhere does God tell us the color of their hair or eyes. In fact, we are given no specific details. All we are told is someone thought they were beautiful. We don’t know why. We don’t know what the winning characteristic was. We only know these women were beautiful.

I have a few blogs that I read. I don’t read them because the writers are a size 4. I don’t read them because the writer has straight teeth, milky skin, and silky hair. I read them because they feed my heart. They speak to me when I hurt and smooth balm over my wounded places. I read them because they make me laugh and help refocus my mind when I’m having a stressful day. I read them because they challenge me even when I would rather someone tell me there is integrity in mediocrity.

Most of us think the same way about the ladies who write the blogs we read. We don’t consider their weight, hair color, if they have two arms and two legs. We just know they are beautiful women who sow into us. We see them as wonderful and precious. We thank God that He has brought them into our lives because they are invaluable treasures.

But, when we look in the mirror, we use different criteria.

Suddenly, our value is inversely related to our dress size. Why is it that these women we think so highly of think so highly of US but we can’t? What do they see what we don’t? Could it be that they see the size of our hearts, and we can’t get beyond the size of our hips?

Copyright Jerri Phillips 2008

3 comments:

Robin said...

Amen! A thousand times over Jerri!

And you are a beautiful woman of God! I'm blessed by your words, your wisdom and your compassion! Thanks for being the woman God created you to be!

Hynson Family Notes said...

You are very right. Godliness is what makes us beautiful. Our willingness to love and serve the Father should be how we are viewed - not our dress size.

sharilyn said...

i am being still and listening to God speak through these words of yours.... mmmm. thank you, Lord. You are good.