Beauty is undoubtedly a man's weakness; God wired men to be visual that way. Add a genuine, radiant smile to that beauty and you've got these men weak at the knees. It doesn't really matter if the smile is directed at them or at some dancing butterfly.
While I do not use external beauty or a smile to exploit a man's weakness, I realized today that beauty can be created and used a different way--certainly not for revenge. Another wrongdoing doesn't correct or justify a man's wrongdoing, whether that man did it intentionally or unintentionally.
Beauty, when abused, can and will be lost.
I used to be appalled at men who would say that they are attracted to my beauty. You just can never tell the frog from the prince, and I don't really know if I'm willing to kiss too many frogs before I get to finally meet that prince!
Because of this, I have mistakenly deprived myself of appreciating the beauty that God has blessed me with--didn't He make all things beautiful? :) Instead, I have been "hiding" that beauty, and I haven't really made an effort to develop it externally or internally. I have resorted to my "default look", inside and out. I never wanted to attract any attention, as men's fleeting glances or blatant stares have caused my brain to signal, "Danger, danger!"
Now, I have decided to no longer be bothered by such looks of admiration--it doesn't matter if such a look is coming from a knight in shining armor or from just another would-be-jerk (or frog, whichever is worse). As long as I respond to such advances or ignore them with grace and modesty (and class, of course), I no longer have to employ my self-preservation tactics. I no longer have to be afraid. I no longer have to be upset. I no longer have to hide.
I'd say let them appreciate the beauty that God has created. And if, in the process, they prove to be just like the rest and not the best, if they end up hurting me again just like the very few men of my past (whether intentionally or unintentionally, directly or indirectly), then they have unknowingly blessed me with yet another opportunity to become even more beautiful...
...Oh, to become more beautiful...
...Not just externally, but more so, internally.
One argues, "How?"
I can pray for them. Every single one of them.
...Starting from the very first one who has ever wronged me...starting from the ones whom I never let into my life in the first place, to the very few who made it to my heart or its periphery at some point in my life. Recent or otherwise.
To pray without hatred, without spite, without blame...but only with love, compassion, and grace...
...God's love. God's grace. God's gift.
...And God holds the key to my heart.
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" Matthew 5:44
I refuse to let them make me look ugly. I refuse to let them infect my merry heart.
Instead, I can quietly thank them for giving me additional opportunities to become even more beautiful while bringing God the glory.
There is great power in a meek and quiet but thankful spirit.
I will smile, anyway. I will be beautiful, anyway.
Beautiful inside and out--a beauty that nobody can take away from me.
A beauty that will never fade. A beauty that's only from above.
Beautiful in God's eyes.
