Armorbearers International

Is your inner person beautiful in Christ? We all know what beautiful means in our natural world. Something or someone pleasing to the eyes is a good definition of physical beauty. Have you thought about what it means to be beautiful in spirit? Do you know if you are pleasing in God's eyes? (Beautiful)

You might remember from Scripture that faith is what pleases God. The Hebrew writer put it like this, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him..." (Hebrews 11:5) Although, God expects us to participate in good works and to even spur each other to good works, he does not expect us to work for the things he has given us freely. He has given us salvation, the gifts of the spirit and all good things pertaining to life in abundance.

I prefaced with all that because I don't want you to feel you have to work harder to become beautiful in God's eyes. It's not a works thing. It's a faith thing. Remember, Father God called Jesus, His beloved Son before he ever did a thing in ministry. You need only put on the garments of righteousness he has supplied us through Christ. A few of the garments of Christ are kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, love and faith.

Here are 7 tips on beautifying our spirit in Christ.

1. Grow in gentleness: Whether we are man or woman, we can take a lesson from the Apostle Peter as he instructs women, "Do not let your adornment be merely outward-arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel-rather let it be the hidden person of the heart (your spirit) with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."

2. Build a good testimony: Serve in faith and your testimony will become more and more that you please God.  Our faith in action pleases God. Whether it's good or bad, faithful or faithless, we are all working on our testimony before God. Again I refer to the Hebrew writer who said, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony." And later he goes on to say, "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death…for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

3. Put on Christ: The Roman writer says, "Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus." (Romans 13:14) You may ask, "How do I put on Christ." I'm so glad you asked. You put on Christ by renewing your mind.  The more we read our Bible and pray, the more our mind becomes renewed to the Word of God. We begin to think like our Lord; we begin to act like our God. In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul encourages the Ephesians church, now us with, "…that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.

4. Wear the clothing of righteousness. I mentioned earlier the Apostle Peter instructing us to focus more on our inner beauty than our outward appearance. We must daily put on our garments of kindness and patience. The Apostle Paul writing to the Colossian church encouraging them to put on the character of the new man (inner man), "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering… (Colossians 3:12)

5. Be humble: King David was known as a man after God's heart. He pleased God through humility. He was considered humble not because he never made a mistake. In fact, he's more famous for making some big blunders (sin) than being a humble man. King David is recorded as humble and pleasing to God because when he sinned, he repented and received forgiveness in faith. So while you're cultivating humility remember this, "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation." (Psalm 149:4)

6. Grow in God's Favor. You may be surprised as I was to discover another word that interchanges with favor is beauty. More and more, realize God has already given us His unmerited favor-His grace. We can do nothing more to deserve it. So just receive it by faith along with all the other free gifts like salvation, mercy and forgiveness that He has given us through Christ. The Psalmist says it well, "And let the beauty (favor) of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)

7. Look at the Lord as Beautiful. The man after God's heart puts it like this, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord." Psalm 27:4 When we begin to recognize none of us can be beautiful or righteousness except through Christ, we begin to see the beauty of our Lord. We will realize more and more that He is the only One that can give us beauty for the ashes of our lives. (Isaiah 61:3)

Begin to beautify yourself in Christ. You'll discover the more you grow in gentleness, build a good testimony, put on Christ, wear godly garments, become humble, and grow in God's favor, the more BEAUTIFUL you become.