Ugh...!

It was bright and vibrant yet soft to the touch. Kinda the way you want it. Looking like it’s gonna taste nice, real nice. Juicy and fruity and good. So I started to tear away the peel and divide the flesh into its neatly packaged segments.

Only once the peel had been shed, the inside didn’t look too good. All dimply and shrivelled. And it tasted even worse! Yuck! And the taste lingered in my mouth tainting everything else that passed my lips. Ugh!

That’s the problem with Satsumas and their fruity relatives. You can’t always tell what they’re going to taste like by looking at the outside, at the peel.

Sometimes you can. Sometimes the inside is so bad that it shows on the outside. But sometimes you can’t. Sometimes the outside is made to look nice, while the inside is allowed to rot and decay.

When we focus on taking care of our outside, of our surface appearance, we can forget about what’s going on inside.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewellery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4

But what matter’s to God, and what will last for eternity, is our inner self. Our soul, our spirit.

If you’ve ever seen an episode of America’s Next Top Model, you’ll know how fleeting, temporary and false a beautiful outside can be. Just wait until one of those stunners is angry, upset or feeling moody about something, and the ugliness that comes out of their mouth instantly covers any beauty they have on the outside.

Their outbursts and the way they interact with their fellow models is a much bigger vision of their beauty then their photographs will ever be. Why? Because it shows their spirit, it shows their heart.

True beauty does not come from a bottle. Or a jar / spray / needle / surgeon’s knife.
It is not a single image or idea that we are to strive for. It is not judgemental or critical, and it is not based solely on the physical.

True beauty comes from within. And it grows.
It wraps itself around any form and delights in it just the way it is. It brings joy and life and encouragement. It is positive and balanced and seeks to serve others before itself. It is kindness and compassion. It is eternal.

This is something I feel quite passionate about…the distortion of what it means to be beautiful and how that affects our feelings of value and worth. It’s something I hope one day to help to change, to restore it and bring back God’s true vision of beauty.
If you feel the same check out
http://www.truecampaign.org/