The Video Vixen

When I was a little girl, my main role models were the women in my family and the women in music videos. They always had the fly clothes, long hair and all the attention from the guys. A part of me said, "I want to be just like that!" But even as a little girl, I had my concerns with the video vixen: she never spoke. And any noise she did utter was either a moan or a groan. She was not human to me. She had been reduced to a dumb animal and I said not me. I want to be able to say something.

The journey from then to now has been to discover what beauty is and measure myself to it. Everyone has their own definition of beauty. I had a guy tell me in high school that if I wore my skirts a little shorter, lost my glasses and made my hair skinny straight and flowy like the white girls, I would be beautiful. Other guys told me if I put out, I would be beautiful. If I talked less, dumbed myself down, and all that, I would be more beautiful.

None of these are really it.

How does the Word define beauty? You have Proverbs 31: "Charm is decietful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised." And true beauty throughout the entire Bible is defined as this: holiness. Consider this, our Christ came on this Earth and had nothing that would make anyone take a double look. He resembled average Joe (Isaiah 53:2). Yet, he drew crowds and all marveled at Him.

I remember hearing so much stories about Mother Theresa and how awesome she was and all she did. I recall my first time seeing an image of her and I said, "wow". She had nothing in her appearance that would make the world say, "look at her beauty!". But she had devoted her life for the cause of suffering and for this she was commended.

True beauty is holiness. It always has been.