We long for beauty because God has placed that desire in us. We weren’t created to be visually assaulted by evil each day. And yet at this time in history we are surrounded daily by every manner of slovenliness, vulgarity, profanity and worse. Even when we do our best to avoid it, we rarely can if we leave our home. Music full of profanity plays in mall stores. Words that would have brought about a school suspension when I was in high school are now used freely online by those who claim the name of Christ. Very few people have any sense of pride in their appearance when they go into public.

This rise of vulgarity is distressing because as followers of Christ we instinctively know better. Much of it isn’t even a matter of personal preference. The things we are forced to interact with visually and audibly are often blasphemous and against God’s created order.

God is a God of beauty. Just look at His creation to know this is true. It’s not supposed to be this way.

We have to be the ones who make the effort to bring beauty back out into the open. We need to set the example. We can do this by speaking and acting graciously around others. Making sure our appearance is blessing to those around us whether it is at the store, church, or in our own home. We shouldn’t lessen our standards to the low common denominator that surrounds us.

This is something I have tried to do consistently throughout my life, but I do feel like I need a little bit of a refocus in this area. When life is difficult or overwhelming, it is easy to let the little things go. To not make the extra effort to make things pretty. To be satisfied with good enough.

To be sure, there are times when good enough truly is good enough. If we’re ill, have a newborn, or are dealing with another significant life event it can take everything we have just to get through the day. God knows that and we should be gracious with ourselves.

But how often do people take the easy way out because they don’t want to put forth the effort? It’s not that they can’t. They simply don’t want to be bothered. The cumulative effect of this is the culture we now see around us. We didn’t fall into degradation as a culture over night. It was millions of people making millions of decisions every day that beauty didn’t matter. Dignity didn’t matter. The extra effort didn’t matter.

And here we are.

So I’m challenging myself to put forth the extra minute or two to include more beauty in my cozy home. To take the little extra steps that bring beauty to my relationships. To make sure when I’m out and about that my countenance and words spread beauty and graciousness. To hopefully be the little spark that makes someone else consider making her own changes.

How can you spread more beauty in your circle of influence?

Lavender photo credit, young woman photo credit, teacup photo credit