Nancy Hughes: Designed with love

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but
a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
Proverbs 15:4 (NIV)

His dinner partner’s back was toward me in the booth next to mine but I could see his face. It wasn’t his facial features that first caught my attention. Nor was it the loudness of the man’s voice that forced me to keep looking his way.

It was the one-sided conversation he was having with the woman sitting across from him that held me captive and unable to turn away.

“You do know that you need a lot of work on that face of yours, don’t you?” he asked her. It was not a question that he wanted answered; to him it was a statement of fact. “Honestly, I am doing you a favor just by taking you out. Don’t you have a girlfriend or somebody to teach you how to put on makeup?”

I saw her shake her bowed head “no” slightly. He rolled his eyes and continued. “What do you have – brothers? No woman would wear that flannel shirt in public unless she only had brothers and didn’t know how a lady should dress.”







My heart was sobbing for this woman. How could anyone speak to another in such a way! All I could see was the back of her head – shiny thick dark brown hair, shoulder length, with just a hint of a wave – but I longed to get up, deck the man making the comments and then tell her that no matter what this guy said, she was beautiful inside and out to God.

Just a few minutes later, I heard him say “You need to pay the bill for supper. I gave you a lot of good advice. That should be worth quite a bit to you.” I could not keep my eyes from watching her as she moved out of the seat, stood up and turned around.

After listening to her dinner partner’s “advice” on her appearance, I was not prepared for what I saw. She was gorgeous! She had lovely skin that didn’t need any makeup at all and hazel eyes with just a hint of green that glanced my way and then looked down as she walked over to pay the bill.

It seemed obvious that the man’s intention was to bully this beautiful young woman into believing that she was ugly and unlovable. I have no idea why. Perhaps so he could be in control of her life. Perhaps just because he wanted to intimidate. I do not know the reason but I DO know that his “deceitful tongue” mentioned in Proverbs 15:4 had truly crushed her spirit.

I know this is a sensitive issue for many, but if you are someone who is on the receiving end of this same type of conversation, can I just share something with you?
You are a child of the Creator of the Universe, Jehovah God, and the King of Kings. Inside and out, you are beautiful; you are stunning, you are of such great value that God Himself says He would do whatever He needed to have you as His daughter. (Isaiah 43:1-4)

Does that sound like you need “a lot of work on that face of yours” or that anyone should do you a “favor just by taking you out”? Absolutely not!

Please do not allow anyone to try to convince you that you are less than a beautiful creation designed with love by God Himself.

Father, I thank you for creating me beautifully inside and out and for loving me as your daughter. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

Have you ever been the recipient of someone speaking untruths to you to keep you from seeing how much you are prized and loved?

If so, what was your response to their comments? Why did you answer as you did?

Apply

Memorize today’s power verses. Write them on note cards and put them in your purse.

If someone attempts to use their “deceitful tongue” against you, speak those verses to them or pull the cards from your purse and share.

Power

Proverbs 15:4 (NIV) “The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”

Psalm 45:11 (NIV) “The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.”

Psalm 19:14 (NIV) “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)