I can’t count how many times since I’ve been married I’ve looked in the mirror and thought, “Not good.” It’s often because I feel over-weight and under-exercised, or because I can see my reflection for what it is with its imperfections. Sometimes just seeing some stylish woman with four kids can make me feel self-conscious of my own unpolished looks. But there’s an amazing security in marriage – a security I feel when my husband puts his arms around me and tells me I’m beautiful, that he loves me without any makeup and no matter what unfashionable thing
I’m wearing.


This is what Christ does for His Bride. He embraces us every day and tells us we are beautiful. It’s not because we are inherently good-looking; it’s because He has washed us with His own blood, dressed us in His garments, united Himself to us. When God looks at us, He sees Christ – the perfect Son who loved and obeyed even to death.


We are hidden in Christ, and our beauty is truly in the eye of our Beholder. We can rest secure in His love.