Emphasising and working on spiritual beauty

One of the topics that came up tonight was beauty, and I was reminded of an idea I'd had a few months ago (which, sadly, I hadn't given much more thought since).

It came from an increasing awareness of the triumph of physical beauty over beauty of character, beauty of spirit. Not that physical beauty is bad, not at all, but it really isn't the be-all and the end-all like the world says it is. I've found myself talking with the emphasis of the world, however, in frequently complimenting others on their physical attractiveness, or their clothes. I'd like to challenge myself in this: to compliment people more frequently because of who they are, or because of what they've done, e.g. "You're beautiful, because of your amazing spirit/ kind heart".

Another note:
In talking about spiritual beauty, I also find cycling (well, exercising terminology) helpful. As I've been developing muscles (it's true! cyclist calves.. oohhh), and growing stronger, and working out for longer, I've been struck by how apt a metaphor physical training provides for our own spiritual training (to be fair, the original analogy is used by the Bible :) ). In the same way some exercises work certain muscle groups, nowadays I talk about certain incidents giving me opportunity to work out my patience muscles, or doing a session with my kindness muscles.

These little visualization techniques have really helped me to process the ups and downs of the Christian walk. I no longer beat myself when I struggle as a Christian, 'cause, as I've come to expect from exercising, I know I'll have some off days, some good days, some days where my muscles hurt and don't do much, and some days where I do so much better. I know that I'm growing, and that growing involves often involves two steps forward, and one step back. I also know that it's something I need to be working on, otherwise I'll stagnate (oh, the dreaded sick periods when I can't gym for weeks.. not fun.) But unlike exercising where I can only do as much as my body can, and where I need to have frequent rest days so my muscles can build inside me, my spiritual growth is going to exceed my wildest expectations, because it's God's power and grace working in me.

Onwards, ever onwards :)