Wasted Beauty

The allure of beauty, in times past, was the promise of it. It was the way a woman walked and talked; the sound of her voice and the choice of her words (which were poetry to the right ear).

Beauty was her composure and confidence; the way she moved down the street told a story. It was what others said about her; it was what you heard about her that made her wonderful. It was both what you could see, which only told you so much, and what you could not.

She was inaccessible unless you were “the one.” The fact that she had created a boundary that no one would cross (unless they had evil intent) meant she had dignity and made dignified the man who won her heart.

Beauty was not suggestive, it was a suggestion. It was both an invitation and a warning. The invitation said, “I am worth knowing.” The warning said, to quote a modern line, “I am not here for your entertainment.” I am worth chasing after. I am worth your respect. I will add value to your life if you are so fortunate to win me.

Beauty today has lost its magic. Girls think nothing of “putting it all out there” for guys to see – young girls working hard to have cleavage for their facebook shot so that they can look “sexy.” It is so ironic, because by doing so, they have lost the very thing they can control and use to their advantage.  By spilling out of their clothes, the only thing they are going to get is lust, and our hearts weren’t designed for that. It is only out of brokenness that we settle for love’s cheap cousin.

Our hearts were designed for the dance; something purer and more intoxicating and in the end, a woman was meant to be treasured, not used.

Proverbs 11:22 says

“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.”

This is a fantastic description. Who would put something priceless into a pig’s nose. A gold ring, really? Does the pig know it is wearing something so costly? The writer is saying that a woman who lacks the ability to show good judgement in how she carries herself and conducts herself shouldn’t even bother with thinking she has beauty.

True Beauty, on an unwise woman, isn’t the thing you are going to notice. She will waste her good years flaunting herself, so why even be beautiful if she has made herself that available, that viewable? Her beauty is wasted on her. She has something amazing and she doesn’t even know it.

I walk into the stores these days and everything is low cut. I feel for the girls who go shopping because trying to be modest and still fashionable is hard. A v-neck t-shirt is impossible to wear without another layer under it and even that layer often doesn’t make the outfit modest.

They make jeans/shorts that you can’t bend over in without exposing yourself (I don’t get how that is sexy, I really don’t think someone’s crack and half their underwear is sexy – honestly if people could see themselves!) And don’t get me started on older women trying to pull this off. It doesn’t look good on someone who is 20, and it is scary on someone who is older whether you are 100 pounds or not. Women, think about what other people are seeing and spare us. That’s not beauty.

There are a thousand words for beauty but sexy only means “sexually exciting/erotic.” Is that what you want? Do you just want to be known as sexually exciting? If all you have is that, then there is only one thing to discover: Whether you are that exciting or not. Once that is known, there are others more exciting than you.

Honestly, there is only one person like you; would anyone know that by the way you carry yourself?

As for me, there is more to me then that. I have a lot going on in my head and heart that I think is worthwhile knowing. I am 42 and I am “just becoming” — I am just coming into the person I am. I have many sides to me and you haven’t even seen them all yet. I am stirred by so many things, do you want to know what stirs me? Mike, my husband of almost 22 years, have I become boring yet? I think not…

Girls, you are not some animal taking whatever scraps of attention you can get. You are a great beauty, worth your weight in gold; wear it knowing who you are and don’t give yourself away so easily.

You are worth a great pursuit.

— Teresa Klassen

P.S. Take the time to watch this. It is 7.5 minutes of time well spent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igCj3jsbcqs

P.P.S. Oh…and this one (love this): http://youtu.be/iqF_PtugyBk