Beauty for Beauty's Sake

There is great value in beauty for no other reason than the fact that it is beautiful

“Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”  -I Chronicles 16:29

The great naturalist, John Muir, once said, :.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. “

If God had not loved beauty so much, he would not have made so much of it.

The earth and the hearts of humans are consumed with glorious beauty and beautiful thoughts, words, melodies, colors, and  visions. Solomon said:

“He hath made everything beautiful in his time.”

There is the beauty of nature around us: flowers and grass, oceans and mountains, trees, rivers and plains, deserts and valleys, and all that God has made on this earth.

There is the beauty of the cosmos. The sun and stars, the planets and open space, all declare the glory of God.

There is the beauty of art. The written word lifts our minds. The spoken word stirs us. Music releases our emotions of love, joy, and pain. Paintings, sculptures, great architecture, and all forms of visual art cause our spirits to soar. All forms of art can express the beauty of human creativity and thus, the handiwork of God in our lives.

There is the beauty of children, the beauty of human love, the beauty of friendship, and the beauty of a sacrificial act of grace and mercy.

There is the beauty of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ and his saving work on the cross.

All of these forms of beauty are healing and nurturing, but more than that, all of these prompt us to worship God whose deepest expression of beauty is God's own holiness.