The Challenge: Day 2

"[Our Father in Heaven] sees our divine nature.  We are His children.  The way He sees us, because of His love for us, is perfect.  The mirror which He holds constantly before us, if we will only raise our sight to look, is the one in which we should trust.  Its image is always true and never distorted.  He reminds us, as He did Moses, 'Thou art my son [or daughter]' (Moses 1:4)."

-Lynn G. Robbins-

Day 2:  God's Definition of Beauty

The assigned readings for today's challenge began with "True Beauty" by Elder Lynn G. Robbins Of the Seventy.  Here are some points that were particularly poignant to me:

• Happiness is a choice.  It is also an expectation.
• Happiness is what gives us beauty.
• Be able to see yourself through the eyes of those who love you, namely your Heavenly Father.
• We radiate beauty when we are righteous and live virtuous lives.
• "With the Lord there is no competition.  All have an equal privilege to have His image engraven upon their countenance (see Alma 5:19).  There is no truer beauty."

Next came two scriptures:

1 Samuel 16:7

"But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

1 Corinthians 3:16

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

Certainly God does not define beauty in the same ways we do.  A woman (or man) who is the model image of beauty does not have the same qualities of beauty that the Lord sees.  We have been born with everything we need to be beautiful and happy.  Don't look to outward sources.  Look within yourself and turn to the Lord.  Our challenge is to re-find who we are and what God has provided us with.  We all have unique beauty, gifts, and talents.  Let us find them.