Day 9 – All that is Beautiful and Lovely 

Thank you, Paul, for giving us a guideline to direct our thoughts (Philippians 4:8) – as we practice this diligently, we will find that we indeed become more like Jesus. 

Maybe the entire list is easiest in this focus on beauty because in this defiled world stained by sin, its opposite is prevalent.

Yes, give me all that is beautiful and lovely. Let us breathe in the sunrise and the sunset… let us adore the brush of the wind on our cheeks and a starlit sky. The magnificence of our creator surrounds us in the abundant, breath-taking nature all around us.

But beyond creation, nothing is more beautiful and lovely than King Jesus – nothing more ravishing and awe-inspiring than God’s salvation plan and His eternal love for us.

The most important Bible verse about beauty is from 1 Peter, “What matters is not your outer appearance — the styling of your hair, the jewellery you wear, the cut of your clothes — but your inner disposition. Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in”. 

This means to focus our thoughts on what is beautiful to God and pleasing to His sight. Ephesians 5:10 says to “find out what pleases the Lord”. 

God does not focus on our outward appearance. It is what’s on the inside us that matters most to Him. The Bible tells us that God’s focus is on developing our inner beauty so that it can be reflected in everything we do and what we are. Let that be our focus!

Prayer: Dear Lord, I stand in such awe of your loveliness! I want to be more like You! May the meditations of my heart to be pleasing in Your sight my rock and my redeemer. I look to You to continue the precious work of sanctification in me through the Holy Spirit and enable me to become beautiful within. I know this is what pleases You Father. Help me to cultivate this inner beauty in a greater way. Amen.

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