"God's Beauty in People"
BEAUTY IN PEOPLE
So the next place we search for God’s beauty, other than directly seeking His face (which we have talked about), is to see His beauty in other people. That’s right! We must learn (and it is a learning process) to recognize the beauty of God in others despite their faults and failures. And, we all realize, that may be quite a challenge to see in certain individuals.
God’s beauty should, eventually, be easier to spot in Christians than in anyone else, because we possess the Spirit of God within us. I say “eventually” because we as Christians must become conformed to Christ’s image over time. We mature in faith. We grow as Christians in due course. People who are not Christians or who are not living the Christian life are still created in the image of God even though they are in a fallen state. We may be able to see certain admirable qualities or morals which have been instilled within them throughout their lives by others. We may also be able to perceive their “potential” if they would simply surrender their lives to Christ.
And, if it sounds in any way arrogant to claim that Christians should reflect the glory of God more than anyone else, let me assure you it is due to God’s grace and His Holy Spirit working within us and NOT because of any innate goodness on our part. In other words, we are who we are simply and solely because of God’s grace.
HOW TO EMIT GOD’S GLORY
Most Christians, at this point, might consider their own lives and lifestyles and inquire, “How do I emit or release God’s beauty?” Well, to “emit” God’s beauty, we must first “possess” God’s beauty. We as Christians do not only want to “do” some good things for others, we want to BE good. We as Christians do not only want to occasionally stand for justice, we want to BE just. We as Christians do not merely want to perform a few acts of kindness, we want to BE kind. We as Christians do not just want to experience occasional moments of joy, we want to BE happy. We as Christians do not want to, once in a while, share Christ with someone, we want to BE a continual witness for Christ in everything we do and in every word we say. We do not want to be a people who forcefully and awkwardly conjure up some sort of hope for the future, we want to radiate hope. We as Christians do not want to praise God on certain special occasions, we want to praise the Lord all the day long.
You see, there IS a definite difference. There are people who are known to help others when in need, but those close to them know how terribly difficult they are to get along with on a daily basis. We want God’s beauty to flow to us and through us. We want people to see God’s majesty within us. We want people to experience the presence of God when they come near us. We want people to sense Godly words when they converse with us. And we want it to be entirely “natural”…….or “SUPER-natural.” The people who usually impact the world the most are those who are simply being themselves, that is, who God created them to be. And we should not need to try so hard to be ourselves. It’s kinda “let go and let God!”
CONCLUSION
To find God’s beauty, we should continually seek God’s face. However, God’s beauty is also found in His people; yes, that includes all those created in His image but more so within those who have the indwelling presence of God, the Holy Spirit, and even more so in those who allow that Holy Spirit (God Himself) to operate in them and through them. Search for that beauty in others. Allow that beauty to emanate out toward others from within you.