Finding Balance

Finding balance is something that I think we all struggle with in one area of our life or another.  For me balancing work and motherhood is sometimes the most challenging of them all, especially during this season of the year. Keeping with the focus of the blog though, let's think about balancing caring about our appearance versus it's what on the inside that counts.

I will be honest, I really do not know a black and white answer on this one, but rather a few tidbits of thought out responses.  We know that it is stated in the Bible that "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."  1Peter 3:3,4  That would lead you to the thinking that it is not right to think of your appearance as having any such importance.  Yet on the other hand you think of the example of Esther in the Old Testament and before she was chosen as queen she had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments!  That was to make her presentable in the king's presence. Now we are left with the impression that it is important to place great care in our outward appearance!  To really get a grasp on what God is trying to teach us, more of scripture needs to be taken in to account.  We are commanded over and over to place God first, to not live as the world does, and to care for that which He has given us.  We are to live by the examples of the lives that are shared with us in the Bible.  People that are more concerned with the eternal than the external.  Serving, not obsessing.

Where exactly am I going with this?  I do not believe that it is necessarily the right response to pick one side or the other to live by, but rather to find that balance. Are we so preoccupied with what we weigh, the size of our thighs, or the style of our clothes, that we put time with our Savior and that which He has called us to do, in any other place than first?  Are we so obsessive about getting in that exercise and analyzing every morsel that we put into our mouths, that time spent with those close to us gets pushed aside?  It can be a great struggle to find that balance, and yet we are fully able to do that which He has called us to do.  We are the temple of Living God, and we are to care for it and treat it with the utmost care, while not placing unnecessary attention on ourselves. I encourage you, (and myself included!!!) to step back, take a look, and ask God if you have found that balance between external and eternal.  May you find that beauty which comes from a gentle and quiet spirit!