The Other Side Of Beauty: 7-Day Reading PlanSample

Every single one of us is called to live a beautiful life. But, as we know by now, that doesn’t mean we are all called to be runway models. If we had to sum up with one word what a life of beauty looks like, it would be holiness. A beautiful life is a life of holiness. What does that mean? Holiness isn’t a very popular word since it is often used to describe “holier-than-thou” sorts of people. But holiness basically means “like God.” If we are holy to any degree, we are like God. And since God is the embodiment of love and beauty, holiness is a life where we are single-mindedly in pursuit of love and beauty, of God himself. . . .

My particular path to embracing a beautiful life had to begin with addressing the uncomfortable reality that I had never asked God what he wanted for me. I was always too afraid God’s plans would leave me unhappy or unloved, with no value in the eyes of the world. I see now how absurd this is, but back then fear controlled a lot of my life. When I realized that God actually wants my happiness—that he wants me to know, experience, and share authentic love, and ultimately desires for me to live a life of true beauty—it became easier to offer my days and my choices to him.

We are told from a young age that we can be whatever we want to be, both now and when we grow up. The emphasis is on you, as in “you need to search deep within to discover what you want.” But the Christian view is radically different. Instead of looking to ourselves for the answer, we look to God. When we look to God to answer the question of what our life’s work will be, he reveals what he has planned for our lives, as it says in Jeremiah 29:11: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord” (NIV). And God’s plan is always more beautiful than our plans. Once again, this is the Christian difference. A life of beauty and holiness isn’t centered on us but rather is centered on God and others.