Did you know that God thinks YOU are beautiful? I know, I know. That's really cliche. 'God made us, He thinks we're all beautiful,' or if we don't think we're beautiful, 'God sees our inner beauty.' So what? What's the big deal? We've heard it a million times - what's it mean to me?

Now, I'll be the first to admit: I have no great wisdom when it comes to this subject. As a man I recognize and appreciate beauty, but my concern for my personal 'beauty' is minimal. One has to look no further than my shaggy mop on top to realize this. My opinion of beauty is subjective. It is nothing more than a personal opinion - it is 'in the eye of the beholder.' While I do not know, from experience, how important beauty is to a woman, I can see it written all over the faces of the women I meet. It's written in lipstick and mascara. It's impression is left by jewelry. And it's importance can be measured in time spent in front of a mirror.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not condemning anyone. I think it's wonderful that women want to look beautiful. I hope my wife will want to look beautiful for me. But I want to challenge each of you to take a look at outward beauty from another perspective - God's.

Did you know God doesn't only look on the heart? While it is true that He does see the thoughts and intents of our heart and He is concerned with our inner beauty, it seems that we rarely, if ever, hear that He also looks on the outward appearance. That's kind of intimidating - to think that God looks on my outward appearance. What does He see?

Jeffrey and I were recently studying Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon is not the easiest book to understand and many see no personal relevance, so it gets skimmed over on the way to Isaiah from Ecclesiastes, or neglected altogether. I was one of those people. I never saw how the Song of Solomon applied to me - or anyone. In my mind, it had no great significance to us today, and was simply a series of love-letters written 'back in the day.'

More than once Jeffrey and I commented on how difficult it was to see how what we were reading revealed to us what God was like. Passages like this didn't help:

Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. [ Song 4:2 ]

What on earth does this mean? Is God speaking personally to us today in these passages or is this simply an historical account? As we were studying, we had an epiphany: All throughout Song of Solomon God is telling us we're beautiful.

Have you ever thought about that? God is looking down from heaven and watching you. He's hoping you'll smile, because He thinks you have a beautiful smile - as beautiful as the whitest sheep. (Song 4:2) He thinks your eyes are stunning and your hair is gorgeous. (Song 6:5) Here He's telling you - He thinks you're beautiful.

Granted, the language can range from humorous (would you be flattered if I told you your neck looked like a tower?) to shocking, and is, most often, quite confusing. But the message is clear: God thinks you're beautiful.

You may think 'I've heard this before - God made me, of course He thinks I'm beautiful.' But have you heard it from God Himself? This is not some logical cause-to-effect argument conjured up by a man. It's written by God Himself in His word. It's not spoken in some generic or abstract sense, but specifically. God's telling you that you're beautiful and He's being specific. And what does He use to portray this? He uses a love story.

Have you ever observed a couple in love? They see no faults or flaws in the other. No blemishes are visible. Every feature and characteristic is perfect - and nobody can convince them otherwise. This is how God sees your beauty - it's perfect, and nobody can convince Him otherwise.

Humanity's opinion of beauty is subjective - only God's opinion is objective. And if the objective viewer says you're beautiful, then the truth is that you are. It is humanity's skewed opinion of beauty that must change. No matter what you think of your nose, your ears, your lips, your eyes, your complexion, your body - God, the objective standard, says you're beautiful, and it's true. Nothing needs to be added. Nothing needs to change. You're beautiful just the way you are. God just wanted to let you know.