Beauty Is in the Heart of the Beholder

Deb DeArmond often focuses on families in her writing. In this Biblical Thinking UPGRADE, she focuses on the family of God and how our Father in Heaven sees His beloved children.

“Beauty is found where you choose to see it,” Deb says. “Sounds a lot like our life in Christ. At least, that’s my personal experience.”

God recently reminded me (Dawn) that He was taking my brokenness and creating something of beauty. My "scars" are being transformed! It's a little like the Japanese art of Kintsugi, where the artist "sees" beauty when he or she accents cracks in broken pottery with pure gold (see photo below).

Consider what God sees.

Deb continues . . .

Do you know what a picker is? A picker is someone who finds value in what most of us might easily discard.

It’s become America’s new obsession, with TV shows and magazines dedicated to reclaiming and recreating something grand from broken and discarded items.

Weekend warriors haunt estate auctions, Salvation Army stores, garage sales, and even the dump. I once saw a man pick up a love seat my neighbor had taken to the curb for the garbage pickup. I’m certain the picker had a vision of what it could be.

Some might consider these items junk, even trash. Pickers find treasures in every old garage and country barn.

Seems beauty comes in many forms.

My sister-in-law and her husband were the first pickers I ever met, and they were active long before these guys on TV. Not long ago my brother-in-law posted a photo online of a trunk he found in the trash at work. He took it home, cleaned it up and handed the trunk off to his wife. She worked her magic with a little paint and flair and, voila!

A treasure emerged—resurrected from the garbage heap.

Beauty is found where you choose to see it.

Sounds a lot like our life in Christ. At least, that’s my personal experience.

Jesus picked me. He saw in me a treasure, someone of value.

In His eyes, I was priceless, beautiful—though I’m certain it wasn’t obvious to the world around me.

I never considered myself extraordinary for a single minute. I never imagined that out of my existence could come a life of joy, peace, and abundance, far greater than anything I deserved.

I was ignorant of the true appraisal of my worth. The life I lived had little purpose or vision to guide me.

But God.

God valued me as precious, of significance so great, He would send His perfect Son to purchase my life. He viewed me with His heart and saw the life of Christ, alive in me.

He didn’t just clean me up. Through his precious blood, He lovingly restored me to the original He had in mind when He created me.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good works he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10 NLT).

And unlike an earthly picker's trash to treasure, I will never again be available for sale. He bought me, straight out, to keep as his own.

How is it possible?

Like the picker’s prize, God has a vision of what we can be. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).

Today’s Tips and Challenges:

• Spend some time today to gain greater insight as to how God sees you as His beloved son or daughter. Start with the verses listed below.
• Notate or highlight the words He uses to describe the characteristics, qualities, and descriptions of His children, and any promises He’s made to us.
• Then go to Him in prayer. Ask Him to adjust the lens of your heart to allow you to see yourself as He sees you.

Scriptures to Consider

1 Peter 2:9 - "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

James 1:24 - "...and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

John 1:12-13 - "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Galatians 4:7 - "Since you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."

Ephesians 1:13-14 - "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory."

Remember, God views you with His heart and sees the life of Christ alive in you!

As you reflect on the vision God has for you, do you need to make some adjustments in your thinking?

Deb DeArmond’s passion is family—not just her own, but the relationship dynamics within families in general. Her books focus on the joys—and challenges—of those connections—from in-law issues to constructively managing marital conflict. Her most recent book, Bumper Sticker Be-Attitudes is a light-hearted quick-read devotional with deep spiritual messages for the busy believer. For more about Deb, visit her website "Family Matters" at deb.dearmond.com.

Graphic #1 adapted, courtesy of BRRT at Pixabay.

Graphic #2 - the Japanese art of Kintsugi.