"...for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal"- 2 Corinthians 4:18
As females some of us are passionately concerned with our outward appearance to a degree of addiction. Perhaps the society that we live in has painted 'an ideal' image of the physical picture of a female living in our modern world, which unfortunately drives many of us to strive to become this perfectly false image no matter what it takes!
We invest in various 'beauty' products that only last but for a moment! Some have gone to the extend of re-operating their face, buttocks, and breasts just to be accepted by society while feeding their depraved hearts! Many women have become attached to 'make-up' and artificial hair in so much that they will not be able to function properly if their 'add-ons' have not been applied! What pity!
It is understandable that the need to apply artificial objects of beauty stems from a heart that is insecure! This insecurity is inspired by the Devil as he plants within the hearts of women that their natural appearance is never enough. He deceives women into believing that by applying jewelry, make-up, painting the nails, hair extensions and the like women appear more beautiful than just their 'plain' naturalness which was given them by God. He further degrades a woman's worth by encouraging women to expose their nakedness to the world.
"...for the things which are seen are temporal..." Our physical body is obviously visible; and because of its visibility the word of God make us to know that it does not last - it is temporal! Even nature has taught us that no matter how supple a new born babies' skin is today, it will never remain that way. The child will grow and indeed develop wrinkles at a point in their life! Ultimately also, this child will one day die and their body will be buried in soil where maggots, and worms will devour!
"...but the things which are not seen are eternal." In contrast, our heart is an organ in our body that is not visibly seen except via surgery or an x-ray. Hence, Jesus uses the heart metaphorically to communicate the supernatural to us. When a person gives their life to Jesus Christ, essentially they surrender all - mind, body, spirit to God. This individual cannot do good on their own from the point of initial surrender to the Lord.
They need a 'new heart' (Eze 36:26) that will love the Lord entirely in order to live in the center of God's will; just as in the natural, a person with a faulty heart cannot function well except they receive a heart transplant that will allow them to live their life to its fullest capacity. However, the new heart given to the newly child of God is obtained by faith through Jesus Christ - it is invincible like our natural hearts! This is the heart that God wants us to guard with all diligence (Prov 4:23) so that it doesn't malfunction which is so even with our natural hearts. Once this new, invincible, spiritual heart is received, the owner must pray daily for the purification of the heart from fleshly desires; because the purpose of the new heart is to love the Lord God absolutely and NOT to be self and worldly indulged.
For a woman to engage in attaching and painting is indicative of a selfish and depraved heart that has not been given in exchange for a selfless, Christ-centered functioning one by God Himself. This lady's spiritual heart is severely malfunctioning which if not saved by her voluntary acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, will cause her demise - physically and eternally. As women we are especially called to focus more on our inner being than on the outward. The outward will perish, but the inner is eternal which is in the sight of God of great price! Please, let us ask God to help us stop feeding the physical with transient things of the world and put all of our effort in building the inside which is eternal.
True beauty is defined by a woman's godly actions of peace, love, gentleness, long-suffering, joy, meekness, goodness, and faith which generates from her newly received heart from God, NOT her outward appearance of wearing the latest fashions, applying jewelry, painting, and using cosmetics! A woman is very wise if she will spend time at the feet of Jesus daily asking Him to beautify her from the inside out! Jesus Christ gives us confidence in our natural appearance and cuts off our fleshly desire to indulge in beautifying the physical instead of the internal.
Be blessed!
-Charity
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