You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful

“She don’t know she’s beautiful” was a 1993 hit country song. It’s an ode to a beautiful woman who doesn’t see herself in the same way that other people see her – exceptionally, captivatingly, and wholly beautiful. Though most of you who will read this letter will be surprised to hear it: This is a song that Jesus sings over you. Until the final curtain of eternity is torn, and judgment day exposes the true nature of things, you may not know how beautiful you truly are. This letter is a word of hope to anchor you in the beauty of Christ that lives in you. It is also a word to draw us to our knees in genuine humility as we live this life.

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 25:31-46 about how judgement day will go.

 “The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

It is amazing and challenging that in this parable, those who are blessed by the King and invited into eternal inheritance are genuinely surprised at the reason for their invitation. It was because they valued other people, to the point of investing in their needs. They saw value in people who society didn’t value. They were right to value them – right beyond their imagination. The King himself identifies with them and says that they saw and served Him with their acts of love and courageous kindness. They valued and served people whom their culture wrongly regarded as ‘undesirables’. The next verses in the story offer a chilling reminder of the degree to which people, including ourselves, can be blind to the true value of others.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Matthew 25:41-45 NIV

The thing about the humble is this: they don’t usually know that they are humble. In fact, they often feel overwhelmed by the amount of need they see all around them – people hungry for something, thirsty for something, strangers needing shelter, people suffering in their bodies with sickness, people trapped in their difficult situation – people literally and figuratively in prison*. They feel this pain within themselves, and respond with compassion and direct action.

You, who are reading this letter, take heart. Be encouraged that when you walk into a room, every head turns. You are dangerous to the destructive and oppressive works of the enemy, and you are shining ambassadors of the Kingdom that Jesus announced! The courageous acts of love that daily mark your life, your relationships, and your work, are not only a deposit into a future inheritance when you die – They are the very means of your blessing by bringing you closer to Jesus every day. Continue to press in. You will increasingly discover the beauty and wonder of Jesus in others. No one is too far gone for Christ to save. Jesus can take someone who was actively and intentionally persecuting you and your work – and can turn them into a friend, even a brother or sister, for life. 

As I set the mission leaders of Wildfire before my heart in preparing this letter, I am overwhelmed by the tears of joy in the eyes of Christ as he beholds you. You are not only beloved, you actually are beautiful. You are capable to receive this word and not be corrupted by pride. You walk clothed in the humility of Christ – ever and earnestly seeking to honor the beauty in others. As you walk further into maturity in Christ, and deeper into the assignment he has for your life, may you become ever more childlike and filled with wonder – not jaded and downcast. If you have been discouraged in recent days, or if should you find yourself doubting your worth in the days to come, then listen again to the voice of Jesus.

It is the winsome voice of the lover of your soul, singing a 90’s country song:

“You Don’t know you’re beautiful, though time and time I’ve told you so”

*(Sidenote: The humble don’t assume that others are trapped as a result of their own sin, but consider the multilayered injustices that exist in our world that can sentence people to prison. They see first that they are trapped and need freedom – rather than assigning judgment based on assumptions of how they became trapped…).

Resource: Wildfire Network has compiled on our website some audio, digital, and video resources that can help you as seek to obey the calling Christ has for you, with offerings ranging from a Funding Development course to Missionary focused messages from previous meetings of Kindle. While you can navigate the menu to explore them all, click the link to see some curated digital resources and courses: DIGITAL RESOURCES