02 Nov Day 23: Beauty Inside Out
“She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”
Proverbs 3:15-18
It’s easy to see how a girl can be made to feel dirty, used and ugly—from the inside out. When the girls lived on the street, they had little exposure to function and beauty. Their value was as someone else’s commodity. The slums are saturated with shoddy, dilapidated shacks. Street children are filthy, malnourished and inappropriately dressed.
How do you help tender souls feel valued and beautiful, and convince them of their worth as human beings because they were created in the image of our Maker?
It starts by washing them, dressing them in clean clothes, and nourishing their minds and bodies and hearts. In this way we show Christ’s love, the foundation from which everything else makes sense.
Slowly they learn about real beauty. They see the difference between the world’s notion of beauty, which includes sex appeal and materialism, and God’s notion, which includes strong hands and a giving spirit. And then they ask a teacher to instruct them in making clothes, learning healthy habits, cleanliness and grooming, suited to properly adorn their new lives.
That’s what your partnership fosters. Surely, God finds the shepherding of a little girl’s heart a beautiful use of our time and recourses.
Please pray that we will be able to perform a makeover of the heart and restore the inner beauty of every one of our precious girls. Pray for the millions of girls still on the streets, being treated as commodities—that they may come to understand their true worth in God.
Father, we thank you for each one of these girls who are so precious to you. You have created each of them in your image. We pray for the opportunity to show them your love and to help them understand that each is uniquely and wonderfully made.