Beautiful part 5
The key is not to judge things as beautiful or ugly... but to find the beauty in everything. And notice I said IN everything. Because that's where true beauty is; it's on the inside. A meek and quiet Spirit is beautiful. The inner man, the hidden man of the heart. Where else could beauty come from, but the heart? That's where we get messed up though. Because we look at the surface. We don't look IN things (or people) we look AT them. We judge by appearance instead of judging righteous judgment. That's why we've bought into the impossible standard of perfection as beauty. That's why we condemn ourselves, and because you can't give what you don't have and can only give what you do have, that's why we codemn each other. Instead of celebrating our differences, celebrating that thing that makes each and every one of us special and beautiful, we try to make ourselves and everyone else fit into a box. We try to make GOD--to make LOVE--fit in a box. And it just won't fit. In Job chapter 26 in the NIV the Bible describes all we know of His as the fringes of His works. We haven't even begun to enter in to the fulness. We HAVE the fulness, but we don't yet understand everything we have. That's why it's our EPIC destiny, our Eternal Purpose In Christ, to follow the instructions in Ephesians 3:16-19, "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passesth knowledge, that ye might be filled wtih all the fulness of God." FILLED with the fulness that we already have. KNOW and BELIEVE the love of Christ. EXPERIENCE it every day in every way. See the beauty in all of creation. The full measure of His love as it is poured into us and overflows out of us. That's what makes life beautiful. And, see, it's not about finding something you don't have. It's about exploring what you do have. It's not seeking the Kingdom in order to get it. It's seeing what the Kingdom is all about because you have it. Because you ARE it. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy and it's found in the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost is found in you. The Kingdom of God is within you. And when you understand just how full of it you are, then you can begin to experience it as it manifests all around you. When you understand just how beautiful you are, then it's easy to see the beauty in everything else. The light that is shining IN you, shines THROUGH you and shines OUT of you, and illuminates everything else. Guys, this life is beautiful. And so are you. Instead of trying to be something your not, just find out who you are and BE who you are! That's the whole point... of everything. That's why we're here. That's why we were created. To be loved and to love each other with that same love!