The Beauty of Holiness by Lucy Wallace
Our guest blogger today is Lucy Wallace. Luch has served the last ten years in various ministries (Women’s, Freedom, Children’s, Jewish and Prophetic) but specifically has a heart for women, desiring to inspire them to walk in holiness in their multi-faceted roles at home and the workplace. Lucy spends her time homeschooling her children and loves to study the Bible through the Jewish lens and equip herself in Christian Apologetics. Lucy is wife to Dustin and together they have three girls with one on the way!
Beauty. All of us are drawn to it in one form or another, but did you know the Bible tells us that holiness is beautiful? King David wrote in Psalm 29:2, “Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” David could have just written, “worship the Lord in holiness,” but he wanted to make a point that holiness is beautiful and living a life of holiness is how we worship the Lord.
The world has objectified beauty and says it can be obtained in your own effort such as exercising and dieting so you can wear and accessorize with the most idolized designer names; if you have the right beauty products, you will be desirable. The world’s standard for beauty is centered on the external instead of the internal.
I have a love hate relationship with the beauty industry. I am a beauty school drop out to prove it. However, I do believe as a Kingdom of Priests, we should care about our appearance as we are representatives of the Lord.
The Bible has a lot to say about beauty. In Exodus 28 we are given the description of the priestly garments:
“Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty” (Exodus 28:2, CSB).
“They should use gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen” (Exodus 28:5, CSB).
The chapter goes on to describe the ephod and breast piece that the priests wore and how they were adorned with the most beautiful gemstones and gold. I jokingly like to point out that my favorite fashion verse is Proverbs 31:22, “Her clothing is fine linen and purple.”
You can clearly see I am all for a nice wardrobe BUT not at the expense of giving it more affection than my Lord. Afterall, the Proverbs 31 woman addresses that at the end: “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.” When the world says to praise a woman based on her outward appearance, scripture stands in stark contrast saying it’s actually the woman who fears the Lord that should be praised. Real beauty is about the posture of one’s heart toward the Lord. First Samuel 16:7 says, “Humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
Biblically, to be beautiful is to live a holy lifestyle, fearing the Lord. Living a life of holiness is not dull, daunting or legalistic. Rather, it is very practical for the believer. Romans 12:1 in the Amplified translation says that it is our logical act of worship to present our bodies as living sacrifices. First Peter 1:15 says it this way, “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct [be set apart from the world by your godly character and moral courage]” (AMP).
So I regularly ask myself, Do my lifestyle choices worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness?
Here are some practical questions I consider:
Do I love the Lord above all else? And do I love my neighbor? (Read Mark 12:30-31.)
Does the way that I communicate sound separate from the rest of the world? (Read Ephesians 4:29.)
Does the way I dress look separate from the rest of the world? (Read Romans 13:14.)
My favorite quote on holiness is by C.S. Lewis who said, “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing…it is irresistible.”
I have found living a life of holiness to be truly beautiful and irresistible…have you?
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