We become perfected...in Christ. I know I am nothing beautiful outside of the one who redeemed me. If any good comes from me it is Him who works through me. If the Lord finds favour in me it will not be anything but the pouring out of my ego, so He can manifest His will through my abilities. I am nothing but a tool in His hands. Tools have no beauty, they have practicality. We think in human understanding of things. That is why people can't understand the mind of God. Beauty is an abstract definition of desire. In that sense He desires that all return to Him. We are the body of Christ and He enacts His will in this world through us. We are created in His image and sometimes we think He is more human than God. We are pawns on a cosmic chessboard. The good thing about pawns is when they are navigated across the chessboard they can be used to take out the strongest pieces. Once they have made it to the other side they can become queens (the most powerful piece).
What Happens When Looks Fade? (And Why Are We Still So Concerned About Them?)
- Thread starter seoulsearch
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Yes we are servants of God but we are not merely tools. You make it sound like God is a puppet master. We are also His children that He love. A parent does not treat his child as only a tool but also nurtures him to righteousness for His glory. God wants us to glorify Him by doing His will. That is our purpose but that does not mean we are just tools because His will is also for our own good. The safest place to be is in the midst of God's will.
I understand what you're saying, Adstar, but I'm so glad that God doesn't decree that women need to find a man by age 27 or their attractiveness and use to men, and society, is over.
At one time, when I was younger, yes, I did want a family... and I did have a husband... Who, when I was 25, took up with a 19-year-old instead (gotta grab 'em while they're young and fertile, after all
), and divorced me for her.
I had every hope of remarrying and perpetuating the dream of having a family, but for whatever reason, God had other plans. When I hit 36, I let go of the dream of having a family, and to be honest, I believe God replaced that with different dreams. (Yes, I know about Abraham and Sarah but I'm not a Hollywood celebrity and have no interest in starting a family in my mid-40's.)
If I find someone to live out these new dreams with, great; if not, I'm sure God will send the resources and people I need to achieve whatever it is He has for me.
I do realize that to a lot of men, I'm a dried-up old prune who would be of no use to them, lol, but thankfully, God doesn't see me that way.
A post such as yours also makes me ever-more thankful for the great guy friends I do have in my life, who don't see a woman's only value as being a young, fertile baby machine.
At one time, when I was younger, yes, I did want a family... and I did have a husband... Who, when I was 25, took up with a 19-year-old instead (gotta grab 'em while they're young and fertile, after all
), and divorced me for her. I had every hope of remarrying and perpetuating the dream of having a family, but for whatever reason, God had other plans. When I hit 36, I let go of the dream of having a family, and to be honest, I believe God replaced that with different dreams. (Yes, I know about Abraham and Sarah but I'm not a Hollywood celebrity and have no interest in starting a family in my mid-40's.)
If I find someone to live out these new dreams with, great; if not, I'm sure God will send the resources and people I need to achieve whatever it is He has for me.
I do realize that to a lot of men, I'm a dried-up old prune who would be of no use to them, lol, but thankfully, God doesn't see me that way.
A post such as yours also makes me ever-more thankful for the great guy friends I do have in my life, who don't see a woman's only value as being a young, fertile baby machine.
* This sure does put a lot of pressure on a woman the night before she turns 28.
* I am SO tempted to write a thread... "All You Old Hags (Yes, YOU, Women Over 27!)--What Will You Do Now That You'll Never Find a Man?"
Adstar, I do understand what you're saying about men looking for young women because of "youth" and "fertility"... and you had also said that this would be a hard truth for most women to accept.
But in the dating scenes I've been a part of the past few years (this is just my own experience--I realize it's different for different people), it's often men who are in their 50's-70's or above who are trying to go after women in their 20's and 30's.
Sure, maybe a 70-year-old can claim he's attracted to a 30-year-old's "fertility"--maybe he wants a baby...--but the truth of the matter is, these men are looking for "hot" young women they're hoping to land and have a lot of sex with (which I'm sure you already are well-aware of... it's just that no one says it outright here.)
* I am SO tempted to write a thread... "All You Old Hags (Yes, YOU, Women Over 27!)--What Will You Do Now That You'll Never Find a Man?"
Adstar, I do understand what you're saying about men looking for young women because of "youth" and "fertility"... and you had also said that this would be a hard truth for most women to accept.
But in the dating scenes I've been a part of the past few years (this is just my own experience--I realize it's different for different people), it's often men who are in their 50's-70's or above who are trying to go after women in their 20's and 30's.
Sure, maybe a 70-year-old can claim he's attracted to a 30-year-old's "fertility"--maybe he wants a baby...
--but the truth of the matter is, these men are looking for "hot" young women they're hoping to land and have a lot of sex with (which I'm sure you already are well-aware of... it's just that no one says it outright here.)
... See how this thing works.. If we are talking in generalities it's ok because no one is making any statements about ALL people..
Yes we are His children and He loves us as such but Christ demonstrated how His children should act in this life. His will is made manifest in us unto death. This vessel is not important. It's just a shell of the real us. It is no more important than the shell of a chicken egg. The life is in the shell. One day we will bust out of this shell and leave it behind to decay. We are growing spiritually within the shell. Most people spend their lives concerned with the shell. There are people who question the goodness of God because of the torment that He allows these shells to suffer. Deeper understanding of God is given to those who see these shells as what they are. God is not a puppet master. He doesn't control us to do things, He asks us to. That's what parents do. When we obey our earthly parents, they have the authority and ability to reward us. Our Heavenly Father uses the same motivation. More rewards will be given to them who obey. These shells are machines designed for His purposes. If you can understand that then everything else makes sense. We design machines that are to do work in the water to function in the water. We design machines that do work in space, to function in space. We are the machines He designed to function on earth. He created man to tend the garden and be a steward of creation. Everything in creation has a function for creation. We are the ones who stepped out of our roles to seize control of the machines He gave us. His will be done, on earth, as in Heaven.
My first thought about myself too, something about well if you never had much in the way of looks to begin with I guess this is a problem you don't face. (And it keeps away all the jerks who just want to score with someone hot)
So riddle me this then, if God designed men to want to mate with lots of different women, is the command to monogamy a result of the fall? Because by this logic either God designed us to be monogamous and then also designed men to not naturally want to be monogamous. Or God created us to be polygamous and with those desires, knowing that we would sin and circumstances would require us to be monogamous for our own good. Of course I consider it also a possibility that God created people different from animals and biochemistry is not the sum total of our story. And if that's possible then it isn't an unreasonable conclusion that a lot of these biology only arguments may have less to do with truth than they do with sinful men wanting to justify and excuse their sinfulness.
So riddle me this then, if God designed men to want to mate with lots of different women, is the command to monogamy a result of the fall? Because by this logic either God designed us to be monogamous and then also designed men to not naturally want to be monogamous. Or God created us to be polygamous and with those desires, knowing that we would sin and circumstances would require us to be monogamous for our own good. Of course I consider it also a possibility that God created people different from animals and biochemistry is not the sum total of our story. And if that's possible then it isn't an unreasonable conclusion that a lot of these biology only arguments may have less to do with truth than they do with sinful men wanting to justify and excuse their sinfulness.
Man is just satisfied with release. He is not particular. This is the biology. Women are the particular ones and choose. In this way there is always population growth even without "beauty". The cleaving happens during sex and relationship. We become one. I'm not saying he should continue casting seed. I'm just saying it doesn't take much to motivate him. Our turning away from monogamy has to do with our desire for pleasure being out of whack. Same can be said about gluttony. God designed us to desire sugar because that is the main fuel for the body. We eat sugar at the levels it wasn't designed for and it causes us to crave it more. We have the same responses for procreation. Society programs us for unhealthy appetites for both sex and sugar.