What do you look like without makeup? If you are a man, you would say — what you see is what you get! But if you are a woman, you may feel a bit squeamish, insecure even. Having spent years working in the modeling industry, I always felt that I was "not good enough" bare-faced. On jobs, makeup artists dramatically transformed my face with the exacting strokes of their brushes. After a few hours in the makeup (and hair) chair, then, I was "camera-ready." If someone told me we were going to take pictures with no makeup on at all, I would turn my back!

In the Old Testament, Moses put a veil over his face to mask the intense radiance that came from having met with God. The veil kept people from being terrified from the brightness of his face, and represented the veiling of the people’s minds to understanding the ways of God. But in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18, Paul explains that when we put our faith in Christ, God removes the veil. We become free to fully "see" and understand the Scriptures, and free to be ourselves before the Lord. We are completely unmasked.

In the modeling world, beauty is manufactured through covering up, but in God’s world, real beauty comes from laying it all out. The more our weaknesses show, the more He reveals His strength. If we let Him, God literally takes off our masks, and we become unable to pretend all is perfect beneath the veneer. Sometimes what he reveals underneath the mask is not pretty at all — there are fears, insecurities, bitterness and anger that have festered for far too long. But this is where the great love of God comes in: if we let Him shine His light into the dark places within us, Christ’s blood washes over our imperfections and sins, and gives us the power to be fully human, fully flawed, yet beautiful at the same time.

As we look to Him with unveiled hearts and unveiled faces, He begins to transform us from the inside out. We begin to reflect a glory not our own. And the more He fills us — through prayer and time in His Word, the more we naturally radiate His love to the people in our midst.

No matter what you are facing today, you can be the radiant face of Christ in someone’s life. Let His light shine through you. You never know how the Spirit may touch someone else and change them for eternity. Now that’s what I call beautiful.