Have you ever heard people talk about someone that has a sparkling personality? It usually means that they are personable, engaging, interesting, well liked, good at the things they do, and therefore more likely to excel at them. Everybody is likely to want to fall into this category of people who these kind of traits and skills are attributed to. If you do, then read on, and if not, well…
Let’s look a bit deeper at the word ‘sparkle’
The dictionary defines this word as, to shine or glisten with little gleams of light, as a brilliant gem; glitter; coruscate, (to emit vivid flashes of light; sparkle; scintillate; gleam),
to be brilliant, lively, or vivacious.
Put on a nice dress, brush you hair, smell nice, laugh, love, and you will find that you will be loved.
One of the images that comes to mind when one thinks of the word ‘sparkle’ is a diamond, in fact diamonds are called sparklers, whichever way you turn them they sparkle. Life does sometimes hit a downward turn. At times like this it is important that we continue to sparkle, (be brilliant lively and vivacious).
People tend to forget that, as a I saw in a quote, “A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress really well.” We all know how different the grimy, easy-to-crush-into-dust charcoal looks, as compared to the shiny beautiful almost indestructible diamond.
We must walk tall through it all, through the vicissitudes of life, because strength, courage, and character are always only born in and through adversity.
The No. 1 bestseller of all time ‘The Books’ puts it this way.
Romans 5:3-5
…We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
AND
2 Corinthians 4:17 (Amp)
These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us.
Diamond or sparklers have facets, and it is these facets that produce the sparkle.
What exactly are facets in relation to diamonds? They “are the smooth surface areas of a diamond which have been cut, polished and positioned at different angles which allow light to enter and reflect back from the stone.”
“The depth, width, and uniformity of the facets control the brilliance and the durability of a diamond. The quality of the facets of a diamond are the major determining factor in enhancing the diamond’s ability to sparkle or reflect light, and play a large part in the resulting brilliance of the stone.”
So, to become a diamond you must have pressure, to sparkle you must be cut and polished and positioned. You must be cut several times deeply, widely, that is, across several areas of your life, and likely in the same way and in the same area uniformly many times again and again; and cutting of any kind always hurts.
Diamonds, sparklers, are precious because they are rare, and hard to find, they are not common. It is not easy to sparkle. In line with the analogy of sparkle, being akin to a diamond, it is important to note that after a piece of coal has withstood all the stress and pressure and becomes a diamond, it is still just “a diamond in the rough”. It, at this point now has to go through a process of cutting, polishing, and setting.
Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to withstand the pressure required to produce a sparkler, but we must purpose in our hearts that we will be one of the few who do. Some of us are diamonds right now, albeit in the rough, but diamonds none the less)
Every person, especially a woman must radiate beauty, her countenance should not be downcast and dour. ‘The Books’ encourage us to, “Take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” John 16:33
As a woman of faith, I cannot but point out that this sparkle must not just be physical but also spiritual,
1 Peter 3:3-7
What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes— but your inner disposition.
Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.
What is on the inside tends to spill over to the outside, “It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds,” Luke 6:45.
A woman especially must be beautiful from the inside out, not like the pharisees described in Matthew 23:27 …Frauds! You’re like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it’s all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh.
How do we maintain our sparkle?
By being confident assured and convicted in our hearts that we are not ugly. There is no ugly woman. We are ALL fearfully and wonderfully made he knew us before we were born and knit us together in Our mothers womb, Psalm 139:14
By spending time with God, immersing ourselves in His word and in His glorious presence,
2 Corinthians 3:18
All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
When Moses came down from the mountain after spending time with God he was sparkling
Exodus 34:29
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn’t know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God.
By surrounding ourselves with good friends, and positioning ourselves in the right place. To maintain its sparkle a beautiful diamond must always be placed in the right setting,
Matthew 5:14-16
…You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine!
A diamond must not be placed where anything can dull its shine, or not fully show case its brilliance. In a jewellery shop diamonds are always showcased in light so their brilliance is apparent as if their on fire. “You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another,” Proverbs 27:17
By getting rid of sin. 1 Corinthians 5:6-7 …You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a “small thing,” but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this “yeast.”… Diamonds have grades depending on how clear they are, VS, VVS, IF, FL. Some have inclusions (blemishes) so visible that it can affect their transparency and brilliance, others are flawless, those are the priceless ones. We must strive for holiness and perfection.
To cap it all ladies, look beautiful. It is difficult to believe that you are sparkling on the inside and yet you are dull, dirty, and depressing on the outside.
Put on a nice dress, brush you hair, smell nice, laugh, love, and you will find that you will be loved. Even if you don’t feel that way, do it by faith.Everything God created is beautiful, the blue of the sky, the green of the trees a beautiful sunset.
The garments of the High Priests were, linen with gold, blue, purple and scarlet. they were were clasped together at the shoulder by two onyx stones set in gold. There were four rows of stones: sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper, Exodus 28:1-43.
‘The Books’ tell us that these outfits were designed not just for holiness, but also for beauty, Exodus 28:2.
The place where God resides is described in ‘The Books this way-
Revelation 21:11
…The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light.
v18-21
The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl.
The main street of the City was pure gold,translucent as glass.
God is in the beauty business and he is in the business of beauty. So sparkle, keep sparkling, and maintain it.