Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman

Stop trying to fit [Christ] into your life; instead, build your life around [Him].

When we are passionately in love with our Prince, we put Him above all else--not just in theory, but also practically, in every moment of our day-to-day lives. We do not live for the applause of heaven. Our longings are not for people's approval but only for more and more of Him. We are marked by an effortless, unshakable strength that is found in the presence of our perfect Lover.

To live as My princess,” He told me gently, “I must become the center of your very existence. Your innermost being must become a set-apart place, a sacred sanctuary worthy of My presence. Your heart must be transformed into an intimate retreat, unstained by the pollution of the world, where you can discover more and more of Me and allow Me to shape you into My lily-white likeness.

But to ignore a truth can prove just as dangerous as twisting a truth. If we ignore the Bridegroom attribute of our Lord, we will miss out on the fullness of what it means to have real intimacy with Him.

...It is in this holy chamber where we experience the life-altering closeness of our Prince and are transformed into more than princesses in title alone, but into princesses in behavior as well. It is in this heavenly haven that we learn to live like princesses in the way we think, feel, speak, walk, and talk. The set-apart life of a Christlike princess begins with the preparation of this sacred place.