Do You Think I'm Beautiful?

When Was It Written
This article was written for the Sunday, October 14th worship guide to highlight one of our Wednesday night LifeGroups for ladies called "Do You Think I'm Beautiful?" 

Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, Pastor


DO YOU THINK I'M BEAUTIFUL?
Buried deep in the heart of every woman is a desire to be found beautiful. It isn’t something that they just pick up from our culture or absorb from their upbringing – it is a notion given by God Himself. The Creator created a creature that wanted to be wanted. It seems like a strange thought, but let me tell you the story I experienced just a few months ago and what I learned from it.

When my daughter Lydia turned two years old last year, she was given a collection of “princess dresses” (her words, not mine) from a good friend in Birmingham. There were pink dresses with feathers, teal dresses with sequins, and baby blue dresses with lace. There was even a pair of pink plastic slippers. On the first day Lydia owned the princess dresses, she spent a solid hour trying every single one of them on and posing in front of a mirror. Gradually, she narrowed down the box to a handful of favorites.

About four months ago, I was sitting in our living room on a Saturday afternoon. I heard the “clop, clop, clop” of the princess slippers making their way down the hall. That is always my first cue that a princess is about to make her daily debut. Right on cue, Lydia appeared around the corner of the couch in full royal princess attire. She was decked out in her teal dress smattered with sequins. Her mom had put her hair in a bun and clipped it with a matching teal bow. Huge clip on earrings dangled from her ears, and a plastic pearl necklace hugged her neck. She was a sight to behold. With great pride, Lydia spun in a circle, looked me square in the eye and said five simple words: “Do you think I’m beautiful?”

I responded like any daddy who loved his girl, picking her up in my arms and declaring that she was the most beautiful girl in the world. She beamed for a second then took off again to put on the next dress. She would be back again in a matter of minutes, with a different dress but the same question. That day I learned that buried deep in the heart of every woman – even a three-year-old woman to be – is one burning question: Do you think I’m beautiful?

It is a question that I have to be aware of as a father for my daughter’s sake and as a husband for my wife’s sake. Lydia will make her appeal to be noticed loud and clear. She will dress up and twirl around the room until I speak up and affirm her beauty. Not so with my wife Traci. But even though she doesn’t ask it, the question is there. Do I hear it without her words? Do I give my affirmation without needing an invitation? If I’m being honest I’d have to say I could do better.

So why did God create women with that desire to be noticed? Why do they need such delicate affirmation? The answer I discovered surprised me – and scared me. One of the reasons God did it was for the sake of men. Men are so prone to being absorbed in their worlds – their work, their hobbies, their lives – that they can very easily forget about the beauty around them. And while it is a woman’s self-esteem at stake in finding an answer to that question – do you think I’m beautiful – what’s at stake for the man is even deeper. What’s at stake in my noticing my wife’s beauty is not just the esteem of my wife but the image of God being formed in me. In noticing her beauty and affirming it, I become more like God. Why? Because God notices. Because God affirms. And if I want to be like Him, then I must take notice as well. Read the Song of Songs. Read Ephesians 5. Read Revelation. God finds his people beautiful. Christ adores the Church. And if my desire is to be godly, then a part of that process is learning to love my beloveds – my wife and my daughter. God planted beauty in the hearts of women in order to grow the souls of men. He wants me to take notice of Lydia’s beauty so that I’m a father like my Heavenly Father – because He notices her beauty. God wants me to take notice of Traci’s beauty so that the bride of Kevin will be cherished in the same as the bride of Christ – because He adores her deeply. We simply cannot ignore the women around us and expect to be like God.

Thank You God for the Beautiful Women in My Life…

-Kevin 10/12/07