I must tell you, moments of the “terrible 2’s” aren’t so much fun! The whining….. the incessant whining. It hurts my ears, it wares on my body, it makes me cringe. You know exactly what I mean if you have raised children, or are in the process. Oh there are very good days; but when it rains, it seems to pour.
I was talking to my 2 year old this morning. Here was the gist of our conversation:
Riley- (whining about this, that, and everything)
Mommy- “You really need to stop whining. Remember, Daddy said that there is no whining in this house? Don’t you want to be beautiful for God? Whining makes you ugly. . . to be beautiful for God we need to be obedient, and have a good heart and attitude.”
Riley- “Oh, okay”.
Now, I wasn’t telling my daughter that she was ugly; she doesn’t even know what that means. But our conversation did spark a lot of thought in me.
Am I beautiful before God? Am I giving off a sweet smelling aroma in His sight? Am I being obedient to Him in the areas He is trying to “reshape”, “reform”, “make new” in ME?
Our children are mirrors into our own souls… so very many times we expect so much of them (and we should) but we forget that God desires the same things for us! The same way that our heart grieves when our children go astray, we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do the very same thing!
As women, we like to make ourselves beautiful; whatever it is that makes you feel beautiful. Maybe it is just keeping up with the normal “grooming, showering, and remembering that oh so very important thing called deodorant.” For others it may include things like doing their nails, makeup, hair, waxing, etc.
But what really makes us beautiful as christian women? All of the outward things cannot change our hearts. Maybe we think no one notices; that we can hide it from others, even ourself perhaps?
We cannot. It shows on our countenance.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
How can we preach to the world that Christ is everything to us, that we have purpose and meaning, when we continue to “leave Him in the corner”, or treat Him like a genie in a bottle? When we ignore the Spirit’s promting to change this, and change that. It is for our benefit! He is the only one that will satisfy our deepest needs.
So let’s be beautiful women today! Go take a look into the mirror of God’s Word.
Ask Him to show you how to be obedient to Him. Let Him purify you by confessing your sin to Him.
