My grandmother used to have a saying, “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly is clear to the bone.” I used to think that was just a funny saying. As I have gotten a few more candles on my birthday cake, I realize how profound that statement is.

I look around at the beautiful people in my life, in all of our varied shades of skin, hair colors and types, and differences in sizes. I think that there are beautiful people of all ages and ethnicity. I love the variety of people that God has created. We are each beautifully and uniquely created in the image of God. I love that the Creator of the Universe looked at all of His creation and thought, ” I need a __________ “( fill in your name here).

What also amazes me is the ugliness of some people. I don’t mean “skin deep” ugly; I mean, “to the bone” ugly. I look at how people are tearing down those that are created by God Himself. I think about the nastiness of un-Godly actions. I think about the hate of words spoken against God’s people, simply because they hold fast to the following and conviction of the God’s unchanging Word. I think about terrorists that are killing Christians in the name of their “god”. I think about the ugliness of human beings that are absent of the love and redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

In contrast,  I am reminded of the beauty of my Savior on planet Earth. He radiated the love, justice, and truth of a Holy God. He rebuked, chastised, redeemed, and restored. He loved the un-loveable people of His day. He loved the adulterers, the lepers, and the cast-aways. He loved them enough to not condone or tolerate their sins. He loved them enough to speak to the beauty that God placed inside of them and called them to a higher place of repentance, redemption, and salvation. He still promises us beauty for ashes and can make the ugliest of the ugly into something amazingly beautiful.

I am not the most beautiful person. I am a human being with plenty of flaws, imperfections, and a long list of things I would love to change. I am thankful that my Savior is beautiful from the inside out. I am thankful that everyday I strive to be more like Him. I pray for the mind of Christ and the actions that go along with a transformed life. I pray that I attain the kind of beauty that goes “clear to the bone”.

Courtnay Aycock