Attractiveness for You

It is a normal and natural thing for a person to desire to be attractive, to be liked, to be admired, to be sought after—certainly, best of all, to be loved. To this end, I think most persons dress as pleasingly as possible, speak politely, try not to give undue offense. We may peer anxiously in our mirrors. Certainly, men and women, alike, spend a lot of money on beautifying creams and lotions, and spend much time in the selection of clothes and accessories. One of the most profitable industries in America is the beauty industry. We are surrounded by advertisements telling us how to become beautiful or handsome, how to gain a slim figure or broad shoulders or flawless complexion. Certainly, people everywhere are vitally interested in what to them, in some respects, is the most important thing in life: how they can be attractive to others.

But friends, let’s get this straight: I’m not against beauty and attractiveness. Indeed, the more there are of such people, the happier the world will be. Jesus directed attention to the lilies of the field, pointing out that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these flowers. However, what Jesus apparently had in mind was the idea that beauty comes not through tremendous effort or attention or special care, but through an inner natural, Spiritual “something” that permeates through.

I am not going to outline any particular means to attain beauty or physical attractiveness, except in the sense that they are by-products, so to speak. Also, in our use of the word “attractive,” I do not want to convey meanings such as “allure, “enticement,” etc., but rather, the more comprehensive idea of “Spiritual Magnetism,” the drawing power of the Divine Flow, which is forever irresistible.

Washington Irving wrote, “After all, it is the Divinity within that makes the Divinity without.” And I say the Divine, of course, is always beautiful. Socrates, who lived four hundred years before the time of Jesus, and who was anything but physically beautiful, used to pray, “I pray Thee, O God, that I may be beautiful within.”

So often, in our study of this New Insight in Truth, we hear it said that “this or that came into our life because we attracted it.” It is a basic premise of this teaching that we are “living magnets,” drawing to ourselves things, people, circumstances in accord with our thoughts. Actually, we are all innately attractive people. So when we consider how to be an attractive person, we want to imply the kind of attractiveness where you draw to yourself, or are drawn toward, that which is good and beautiful and harmonious.

Basically, all persons are created in and of this Divine process that we call God. We are all living expressions of God, created and endowed in His image-likeness. So, we have a creativeness and an attractive power which is typical of the Divine that is built-in to our very nature. We are endowed with Love and Power and Wisdom, and yet, we are not totally loving and powerful and wise in ourselves. It is, that we are created in and of a Divine Force. God is, therefore, I am. God is Love, and thus, I am loving; God is Power, and I am powerful; God is Wisdom, and I am wise. In other words, as expressions of these Infinite Potentials, we are the most attractive individuals in the world, for we have in our inner nature the strongest “magnet” ever, the Drawing Power of Spirit.

There is not individual attraction. It only appears that way in some people, because not everyone individualizes this attraction equally in the same way. No matter how hard we try, there is no way that we can make ourselves attractive. But, we can “stir up the gift of God that is within us” and develop this Innate Power. In nature, we do not put creativeness in the soil, rather, we draw it out. Man is not a creator, but a user. That is why the Bible calls him a “husbandman.” We do not create our own muscles. They are created by use, by merely working on that which already exists.

So awaken to your own attractiveness by becoming conscious of your own true Divine Nature. As you come to know yourself as a Spiritual Being, you will begin to think and act as a Child of God and gradually attract to yourself the people and circumstances and things that are in accord with your thoughts about yourself—in keeping with your self-image. If you have thought yourself unattractive physically or mentally, you have undoubtedly prayed many times for God to show you what to do to get others to like you or to praise you, in order that you might experience that inner glow of self-satisfaction, and that you would draw to yourself conditions that were beneficial and desirable…things in abundance.

Compare yourself to a man standing neck-deep in a brook of clear, cold, fresh, clean water, begging someone to give him a drink. Of course, he needs only to bend his head and drink to his heart’s content. Your only need in this way is to “stir up the gift of God that is within you,” to let this great power of attraction, which is the Divine Activity within you, express through you. The greatest attractiveness comes from the knowledge of God. Love is the activity of the God within you, so when your heart is filled with Love, you become irresistibly attractive with a Divine quality that holds you.

Notice, sometimes, a person who is radiantly soul-deep attractive in personality and every way. Wendal White, a University of Minnesota psychologist, says, “No one sees readily, or for long, the beauty of an unsympathetic or a selfish person. And anyone may find a physical deficiency in an otherwise attractive person overshadowed when he has good qualities.” Do you find, as you observe this attractive person, that he or she not only has loads of friends, but in addition, orderly surroundings and fulfillments of needs and ideals? You see, charm and soul-beauty are from the same source as the attractiveness of the Spirit. To cultivate one is to cultivate the other. So, this great power that attracts is the Law of God, and Love is the fulfilling of the Law. So, Divine Love is the magnet that draws your good to you.

In one of those delightful “Oz” books by L. Frank Baum, there is a character called the “Shaggy Man,” who traveled to all parts of the world—and to Fairy Land, too. Wherever he goes, he is protected by a “Love Magnet” that he has in his pocket. In order to give the Love Magnet a chance to do its work, this friendly, warm-hearted old gentleman practices courtesy to everyone he meets. Of course, it is eventually brought out that Shaggy Man is beloved not because of any magical qualities of a piece of curved metal, but by his own quality of love.

Jesus used one phrase more than any other: “Love one another.” [John 13:34, John 15:12, John 15:17] He also said, “I, if I be lifted up,…will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32] Thus, because of his great love for all mankind, he became an irresistible magnet. Therefore, if you want to be an attractive person, love! Love your fellow human beings. Love everyone around you. If you want to prosper, to find harmony and health, the way is to love. Not to do so, is the way to un-lovingness, unattractiveness—no matter what good reasons you think you have for not loving. You may ask “How on earth you can be expected to love this or that person or group of people. The answer is that you can’t! And…you don’t have to. You don’t create Love, anyway. God is Love, you simply express it by making yourself a willing, cooperative channel—you get yourself out of the way.

Don’t try to love somebody who is not lovable. Instead, stop thinking about his or her unlovable characteristics. Stop thinking of him or her at all—and all the negative thoughts that this person seems to bring out in you—and get yourself into the Flow of Love. Become lovely, by loving. Love that person by letting the Infinite Activity of God love through you. Love is, indeed, the strongest magnet, melting hardness of heart, moving the way before those who express it. It is an “Open sesame!” to the treasures of life.

So this New Insight in Truth means: “Love one another.” Love prospers: Express it to all you are in contact with. Love heals: Love every part of your body, even those parts that don’t seem to be expressing their potential. Love harmonizes: Love all those associated with you. Love even those who “despitefully use you,” letting this Divine Love radiate from you to give a blessing, and you will become radiantly attractive. You may like to use this statement: “I am a channel for the expression of the Infinite Love of God.”

Let Love happen! Let it pour forth through you. Meditate on this flowing forth of Love. Let Love express, and you will not only become physically beautiful, but attractive in drawing to you the persons and circumstances, and the substance, that will make your life rich and full.

© Eric Butterworth