Inner-Beauty

There’s a new billboard in town.

It’s paid for by a laser plastic surgery company.

It’s advertising slogan - complete with beautiful woman in bare shoulders - unabashedly promulgates, “Make Your Inner Beauty Jealous.”

MAKE YOUR INNER BEAUTY JEALOUS?!?

ARE YOU SERIOUS???

I wanted to SCREAM the first time I saw that stupid billboard.

And I am DISGUSTED every time I see it.

Because it is FALSE!

False! False! False!

As false as white chocolate is chocolate!

But it's even MORE false than that!!

Because this has EVERYTHING to do with petitioning your inner beauty to embrace the natural man.

The NATURAL man.

For because embracing the natural man means I become an enemy to God!

“For the natural man is an enemy to God and has been , and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he (or she) yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father” (Mosiah 3:19).

Last I checked, (and believe me, I. just. checked.) - THIS is TRUE doctrine.

But I don't see TRUE doctrine advertised, in neon or in any other color, on any billboard that promotes self-indulgence!!

BTW - Doing what I can to make my inner-beauty jealous only takes me farther and farther away from God.
 
It brings out wonderful traits like: aggressiveness, crudeness, pride, impatience, lust, and obstinence.
 
Problem is, the scriptures and the words of the prophets denounce these eternally fatal characteristics.
 
I believe our inner beauty consists of our hearts.
 
A hardened heart is always accompanied with sin and iniquity.
 
A broken heart is always yoked with a contrite spirit.
 
Vaughn J. Featherstone made these powerful statements:
 
"Lord Byron Buckingham said, “Make my heart transparent as pure crystal, that the world jealous of me, may see the foulest thought my heart does hold.” This philosophy is a great one. Every member of the Church should so live that this state of mind would be a reality. You can determine to make your hearts as transparent crystal. When you do this, certain things are beyond consideration. It is impossible to think a foul or dirty thought. Doing so causes a certain physical and spiritual reaction within us. These thoughts tend to obscure God; they cloud, so slightly at first, our transparent inner self. As we repeat these thoughts, the clouding intensifies, and soon we are not able to view things in their pure form. We lose our judgment, we lose the ability to see things from their true perspective, and we become entangled in Satan’s web.
 
"To be pure in heart is a most desirable quality. There comes a strength to those who are pure. It is a measurable, physical strength. It was said of Sir Galahad that he had the strength of ten, because his heart was pure. Purity of heart also brings about a mental strength and integrity. In this day of mental conflict and compromise, the person with integrity and purity stands out like a giant in a world of Pygmies.
 
"There is another dimension of purity that seems to be lost in our day. It is modesty. Few souls on the earth understand what true modesty is. In a recent conversation I asked a great leader in the kingdom what had impressed him most about President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. You would have been surprised with his answer. It wasn’t the unmatched wisdom or brilliant mind. It wasn’t his great spiritual stature. It wasn’t the high esteem in which he was held by the great leaders of nations. It was his total modesty. President J. Reuben Clark, along with all of his other great character traits, had a quality of modesty that is extremely rare in man. He was as modest in his thinking as he was in dress. The slightest deviation from the pure standard was an affront to him. Modesty is necessary to one who is pure in heart. In one of President Clark’s great discourses he was discussing the crucifixion of the Savior. But we catch a glimpse of the man’s modesty as he describes the crucifixion:
 
"'Having in mind the modesty which I am sure attached to him, recalling the experience of Peter on the lakeshore, how offensive it must have been when they stripped him naked and then laying the cross on the ground, they laid him upon the cross, the crosspiece under his shoulders, a peg protruding from the upright beam, which he straddled to support his body. They first nailed his hands and then his feet, then as the next step in this, the cruelest death of which the ancients knew, they raised the cross and let it drop with a jolt into the pit which was dug to contain it, causing one crucified to suffer excruciating agony.'

"Most of us are concerned about the physical suffering through which Jesus went. President Clark not only suffered with the Savior physically because of great compassion, but he also felt, vicariously, the agonizing experience of one so modest being exposed. To have these feelings of empathy as President Clark had them requires a purity of heart.

"My wonderful young friends, the course is straight and narrow, and few there are that find it; but to you the way is open and before you. As you follow the Master you will find the fruit of your labors to be delicious unto your soul. You will find that all the world has to offer is sham compared to the gospel truths. Strive with all your heart and soul to be pure in heart that you may be worthy to see God and to live with him and with your family eternally."