Beauty in Ugliness

I recently watched part of a movie called Nanny McPhee. It was a very interesting movie, at least for the part that I watched. It is about a very ugly looking nanny who takes care of the children of a very big family. The interesting part is that as the children learn the lessons that Nanny McPhee is trying to teach them - such as learning to work together, care for one another, etc. - one of the ugly features of Nanny McPhee becomes an attractive feature. Her ugly features such as a big mole on her cheek, uni-brow, big tooth that hangs out over her lip, big round nose, and a few others go away and at the end she becomes a beautiful person.

This hit me because so many times we look at everyone, whether in the church or outside the church, and all that we want to see is their ugliness. But deep inside is a beauty that only Jesus can bring out. And it can only be brought out by us learning the lessons that He (Jesus) wants to teach us in His Word, such as being faithful in prayer, killing selfishness, being a servant to all, and much more. As we learn and grow we become the beautiful men and women of God that He created us to be. It is truly a wonderful process.

This is the key, however. It is a process. It doesn't happen over night. We all struggle with so much in our lives and as God brings those struggles to the surface it is up to us to learn from them and let Him get rid of each and every one of them. But many times we become frustrated when we don't see people growing the way that we think that they should grow. (Pastors can struggle with this a lot.) We must only remember that it isn't up to us to make someone grow or mature. It is up to us to preach and live the Word and let God do the rest. The scripture is true where it says, "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). Can we all just be patient as God does His work?

So let us look at one another and see who we can become and then let us encourage one another in that. Let each of our ugly characteristics turn to beautiful traits as God deals with us. And may none of us get in the way of what Jesus wants to do by our thoughts, words, and attitudes.

Keep us all open to You, Lord, that we can become the beautiful people you are coming back for. Finish the work in each of us. Amen.