In our last post, we told the story of a king and a peasant girl, a tale of his love for her and the lengths he went to win her heart. We told of the way the girl’s inner beauty shone through her peasant’s rags and worker’s dirt, and how it served to captivate the king’s heart, so much so that he humbled himself to village life in order to be close to her. In the hopes of winning her heart, he took on the very nature of a servant, so that he might be near her. In this post, we wanted to give you a deeper look at inner beauty. What is beautiful—what does it mean? Why is inner beauty so important? Do people even notice? Do guys pay attention to it? Why is it so captivating? These are all questions we hope you’ll find the answers to in this post. A dear friend of ours, Randi, agreed to share her thoughts on these questions, and we hope you’ll take what she’s said to heart. We know God has something to say to you today, as you read this post. Please open your heart to His words as He speaks through her honest, beautiful words. He longs to show the most precious parts of His heart to you; all you have to do is ask.

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What does the word beautiful mean to you?

Beautiful is as much a feeling as it is a physical trait. Beautiful is a smile that makes you feel special or appreciated. Beautiful is a teenage boy showing his kindness and compassion by dropping to his knees to give his time and attention to a little boy who craves it. Beautiful is the teenage girl who leaves the popular table at lunch to go sit by the girl who is feeling invisible. Beautiful is the sibling who shaves their head because their brother/sister has lost theirs due to chemotherapy. Beautiful is when my five year old wants to stop and give the homeless man on the side of the road his donut he had been looking forward to for days. Beautiful is the girl who doesn’t feel the need to talk about others just to make herself feel better. Beautiful is the teenager who shows courage by getting up in front of all their friends and sharing their weaknesses. Beautiful is the person who doesn’t judge the woman not living the way she should, but rather loves her and helps her remove the sin. Beautiful is the guy who hangs out with the unpopular kid knowing it will get him talked about. Beautiful is the person who always has compassion for the underdog and who is constantly trying to build others up. Beautiful is the person who has the confidence to stand up for what and who they believe in. Beautiful is not just a physical trait. Beautiful is a feeling.

What do you think is the best way for girls to display their beauty?

S O A P B O X ……..Cason and I were one of the first of our group of friends to get married. Most of his friends were still single and had no intentions of changing their status anytime soon. When they would all come over to our house, I would hear them talking about girls. The one thing I will always remember was how much they were attracted to the confident girls. Not the stuck up or cocky girls, but the ones who knew who they were and were not going to change that for anyone, especially not a boy. They always seemed to be stuck on the girl that made them work for her attention. It was crazy because some of the most popular guys would get stuck on a girl that was not necessarily the best looking. But I saw why the boys liked them when they would come hang out. They were always the coolest girls. After a while it was like a spotlight was pointing out all of their beautiful features. Confidence is something that the devil is always trying to crush. He wants you to feel like you are not good enough. He wants you to feel like you need that guy to make you who you want to be. Lack of confidence makes you talk about other girls badly. If you were confident, then you wouldn’t feel the need to knock someone else down to make yourself look better. If you were more confident, you wouldn’t feel that you have to do those things with that guy so he doesn’t leave you for someone who will. If you were more confident, you wouldn’t worry about what hanging out or being friends with the unpopular might do to your popularity status. If you were more confident, when that huge pimple attacked your face you wouldn’t hide out all day trying to avoid everyone. Instead you would smile bigger and at everyone taking the attention off your pimple and putting it on how friendly you are and what a great smile you have. Having more confidence will also allow you to focus on the good in others and help them see it as well. Some people are born with a beautiful face and they don’t need to do anything but stand still for their beauty to be noticed. As for the rest of us, we have been born with a face that we can either add to and make ourselves appear attractive or take away from and make ourselves unattractive. The face doesn’t make the person beautiful, the person makes the face beautiful. Cheesy but true.Want to know how to display your beauty? Show all the goodness, kindness, mercy, love and compassion that dwells inside of you. Have confidence in who you are and remind yourself that if you don’t think you’re worth it, then neither will the ones you hope to attract.

Will it even make a difference – will guys view us differently if we work on inward beauty?

YES!!!!!! Guys want to find the best of both worlds. They want someone they are attracted to, but they want more than just a pretty face. They want someone who inspires them to be the best version of themselves. Someone who encourages them to have courage, who is proud of them for the man they are even with all of their short comings, who makes them laugh, someone who they can act stupid with, someone who makes them feel strong. They want someone who respects them, who is compassionate and kind, who is also respected by others, who doesn’t bring on drama. They want someone who listens to them and actually cares what they have to say and what they think. They want someone who is intelligent enough to have a real conversation. They actually really want someone who respects herself enough to not let other guys touch her. They want her to be confident. Guys have always wanted the total package. Guys were not made to be content with just enough to get by with. They were made to conquer, seize, and strive for the best. Why would they be any different with the qualities they are looking for in a girlfriend/wife? They want it all. The world focuses a lot on outward beauty. Why wouldn’t it, according to Ezekiel 28:12 -17. Satan was supposedly the most beautiful thing there was next to God. It was even said that his beauty went to his head, and that was what caused his fall. So of course he would make outward beauty of great importance in this world. But don’t forget that God created us in His image and He made us need more than just superficial beauty. He made us to need the total package. In college there was this girl that ALL the most popular, attractive guys in the school liked. She had all of them fawning over her. I wanted to get a look at this girl who had these guys wishing they could date her. When someone pointed her out to me I thought I had the wrong person. She was nothing near beautiful. She was not ugly, but she would not have gotten a second glance from anyone passing her in the streets. She was nothing more than ordinary, but she had to be something special to have all of these guys hanging on her every word. I didn’t get it until she became my teammate. She was AMAZING! She had to be one of the nicest people I have and will ever meet. She loved God with all her heart. She didn’t preach to anyone, she just let it be known by how she lived. She was SOOOO much fun to hang out with. I think that she was asked to every single function that any of the fraternities held. I never heard her talk about anyone unkindly, she was a hard worker, not just on our team but also in the classroom and on any committee that she ever signed up to help with. She was dependable, trust worthy, funny, outgoing, but quiet in a way that made her a good listener able to carry on a conversation. She was super intelligent, very athletic, well dressed, and one last thing…she had never kissed anyone. All of those boys who were CRAZY about her had most definitely been kissed and if anything were experts. They could have kissed almost any girl they wanted, but they all wanted her. After getting to know her it all made sense. Every guy wanted to be with her and every girl wanted to be her! I learned so much from this girl and have so much respect for her. She was one of the most beautiful people I have ever known. There is nothing about her that is ordinary. She is as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. I can’t for the life of me figure out how I ever saw her as ordinary and average. After becoming her friend, I decided I wanted to be more like her. I started working on who I was on the inside and after three months of changing my focus from outer to inner, I met Cason and became someone’s total package. So again yes, it makes a difference. Not only will guys notice and view you differently, everyone will view you differently. Matthew 10:19-20

*Special thanks to Randi for the incredible amounts of time and energy she put into these answers. You're amazing, and we love you so much!