Rose Colored Glasses

http://christian3400.deviantart.com/art/look-through-rose-colored-glasses-433757975

When I was younger, I watched a version of Pride and Prejudice with my mom. Ironically, in watching it I discovered a prejudice of my own. When they introduced the Mr. Darcy character, I was going, “Him? You picked him? How could you pick him? He’s not attractive at all!” For the first half of the movie I was put out by the fact that I didn’t think him remotely good looking. But, by the end of the move, I felt very differently. The brooding character had worn on me, and he appeared to be the most attractive man in the entire story. How did that happen?

We are bombarded by a picture of what is beautiful. Have you ever looked through a magazine and realized that all the faces were exactly the same? Everyone’s hair is done the same. Everyone’s makeup is the same. Everyone is the same, and if you don’t look like that, you feel the need to look like that. Have you ever watched a commercial and saw the person who wasn’t using their product? Their hair wasn’t done. They probably didn’t have nice clothes. They certainly weren’t smiling. Then, the person who was using their product shows up. They are attractive, have great color, clothes, the house is perfect, everything is perfect. The end result is a feeling of inadequacy. Without their product, you are inadequate. Maybe, like me, after watching a commercial or looking through a particular women’s lingerie magazine you thought, “I need to work out. Then, I can buy these things and look like them.”

So what happens when we meet someone who challenges our idea of what is beautiful? Have you ever met a person and been surprised that they weren’t better looking, and then, as you got to know them, you started to see them as really beautiful or handsome? It’s because our view of things is being challenged by a different reality.

(1 Samuel 16:7) “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’ ”

This is something that is so difficult for us. We do not see in real terms. We make judgments on beauty based on what we can see. But like everything else, that’s only a small percentage of what makes up a person. You can’t see their thoughts, their motivations, or their heart. You don’t see much of anything. But, as you discover who they are, your perception of them might change as well.

I used an example of someone I didn’t think was attractive but became attractive to me. Reversely, there have also been people that I remember thinking were very good looking, but as I got to know them they became less and less so. In some cases, they are people that I would not care to see again because they proved to be unkind and even abusive.

So my hope for you is this. If you look in the mirror and what you see isn’t what you have been told is beautiful or attractive, take heart, the mirror lies anyways. God told me so. Many times. But, also see this. There is a person behind that reflection, and what goes on in that heart determines what is attractive. There is much, MUCH more to us than meets the eye. Chances are you just aren’t looking at yourself clearly.