Day Seventeen: THE HEART OF BEAUTY
. . . as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.
—ISAIAH 62:5
This is the heart of physical beauty in a spiritual world: that we adorn ourselves in expectation of seeing the One who gave His life for us. We’ll see Him today in the faces of strangers or in the smile of a child, and someday we’ll see Him, His hands outstretched, ready to welcome us home. Every day is a wedding day, as God rejoices over us as His bride, a woman He calls beautiful, a woman He calls His own.
Beauty is expectation. We don’t bother with our appearance when we don’t expect to see someone. How you groom yourself today reveals what you expect and what you hope for.
But what about those of us who feel unloved? Intellectually, we can understand that God calls us His beloved bride, a woman He has made beautiful. But some of us can’t feel it and the truth doesn’t penetrate our hearts. This hidden shame is rooted in fear that we don’t measure up, despite God’s affirmations.
Second Timothy 1:7 reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” This fear we carry is not from God, dear sister. We must reject it at every turn. We are the beloved bride, and we are not meant to sit out our own wedding feast. God wants us to experience His love as more than intellectual truth. Whatever is holding you back today, confess it. Name the fears that drive you away from His arms. Give up whatever keeps you searching elsewhere for affirmation and beauty. God has given you the power to believe and a sound mind to recognize and accept the truth. Through Christ, God has done more than proclaim His love for you: He’s given you the power to fully receive it.
Ask: Help me fully accept Your embrace.
Believe: I am opening the door of my heart: I am welcoming Love into every dark corner.