Day Fifteen: SACRIFICIAL LOVE VERSUS SEDUCTION


Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out. . . . His miracles are his memorial—
This GOD of Grace, this GOD of Love.
—PSALM 111:3–4 MSG

How would you say the world defines beauty? I think the world defines it in one word, and I think this word also sums up why some women “let themselves go.” The word is seduction , the power of luring a man into an illicit encounter. Of course, then, we feel uneasy talking about beauty when the culture’s subtext is that beauty is only crafted for seduction. And if we’ve been blessed to find satisfying marriages with good men, we often feel that worldly ideas about illicit seduction have little place in marriage. We begin to think beauty isn’t all that important to us.

But what if beauty was rooted in sacrificial love, not seduction? Would we consider someone else ’s feelings as we cared for our appearance? Great beauty, like great love, is demonstrated best in the sacrifices we make.

I collect vintage and costume jewelry, exotic but inexpensive pieces. I wore my newest prize one day, a stunning silver necklace. When a friend admired it, I felt an unwelcome tug in my spirit: I had the distinct impression God wanted me to take it off and give it to her. So I did, amid much internal wailing and gnashing of teeth. But when it was glittering in her palm instead of on my neck, I felt a burst of freedom, joy, and peace. I wanted that necklace to make me look good; without it, I felt more beautiful than I had in years.

You are a miracle of stunning design, too, formed in the dark quiet of an unseen womb, created to display the grace of God to a dying world. You are a memorial to the God of love. Your life is a sacrifice to offer Him, and your beauty is an invitation to others to know and be known.

Ask: Teach me that spirit is the root of life, and love is the root of beauty.

Believe: Physical beauty isn’t about what I can get from the world. True beauty is about what I can give.

OceanofPDF.com