“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”
— David (Psalm 27:4)
“Begin with beauty, move to goodness, then arrive at truth.”
— Bishop Robert Barron
MY ANSWER SURPRISED ME
A few weeks ago, I was sitting across from a close friend back in my hometown. We were catching up in his office, covering a lot of ground in a short amount of time as we typically do when we get together. Covering family, life, faith and much more. One of those conversations that I find I treasure most. The ones that get below the surface quickly.
After a while of chatting, He looked me in the eye and asked,
“What’s God been teaching you lately?”
I paused. Let it sit. What surfaced to my mind honestly surprised me a bit. Not a tidy theological answer. Not a leadership concept or productivity breakthrough. Not even something I’ve read or written about recently. But this: Beauty
More specifically, the concept of the transcendentals. Goodness, truth and beauty.
These are what most would refer to as the ultimate realities. They are transcendent markers that are baked into the soul of every human and reflected in the fingerprints of God. They form the backbone of how we think, feel, believe, and behave. They are more than just philosophical, they’re deeply personal.
And the concept I’ve found myself chewing on for most of 2025 is this:
In a world confused about truth and skeptical about goodness, beauty may just be our most powerful witness.
WHY BEAUTY?
I first heard Bishop Robert Barron articulate this sequence:
Start with beauty → Move to goodness → Arrive at truth.
At first, I found myself internally pushing back feeling like we are softening the idea of Jesus if we don’t lead with the truth. His reasoning however was difficult to refute.
We live in a world that no longer agrees on truth. Not only that, we don’t share a common moral framework. Which means we often don’t agree on right and wrong. Even the idea of “my truth” vs. “your truth” makes it nearly impossible to appeal to shared absolutes.
And as for goodness? That’s contested ground too. What one person calls virtue, another calls oppression. What one generation celebrates, another condemns.
But beauty seems to be unique. Beauty still breaks through. It carries the unique capacity to speak past people’s senses and preconceived notions. It goes straight for the heart.
A sunset still stops us in our tracks. A song still brings tears to our eyes. A story of redemption still moves something in the soul.
Beauty bypasses argument and defense mechanisms. It slips past the intellect and lands in the heart. It disarms those who are waiting to be wounded.
When someone encounters beauty, their natural instinct is to draw near. To want more. To desire to understand the origin of the objects beauty in the first place.
And that’s where the door opens.
From beauty, we can move toward goodness.
We start to wonder what kind of life makes something that beautiful. We get curious about the character that produces that kind of fruit. We see love in action and want to live like that too.
And eventually, as beauty births goodness, it leads us to truth. We realize the story is not just moving…it’s real. And the author of that story is not just symbolic. He’s alive.
STARVING FOR BEAUTY
Please don’t misunderstand me, truth matters. So does doctrine, theology, and the clear proclamation of the gospel.
But what I am saying is that in a post-Christian culture, we have to understand that cold arguments often don’t mend calloused hearts.
Beauty does.
You might never get a chance to preach a sermon at your workplace. But your kindness might be the most compelling thing someone sees all week. Your story of redemption might be the first glimpse of hope they’ve had in months. Your peace in the chaos might cause them to ask, “What do they have that I don’t?”
And suddenly the door opens.
That’s the power of beauty.
It testifies the truth in a different tone.
The beauty of your story can’t be refuted. It’s not up for debate. It’s not a hypothesis to be torn down. It’s not a theology textbook. It’s your life.
When you choose to share it, with humility, with honesty, and with reverence, God uses it.
You don’t need a seminary degree. You need surrender. You need attentiveness to where He’s been working. You need the courage to speak it out loud. You need to give an account for the hope that you have in Him. Sometimes the most beautiful thing you can offer someone is not a polished answer but a transformed life.
2026: THE YEAR OF SHARING BEAUTY
We’re rounding the final corner of 2025.
New goals will be set. New habits formed. New ambitions dreamed up.
But what if the most powerful thing you could offer the world this next year wasn’t a new level of performance but a deeper commitment to sharing the beauty of Jesus?
Share the beauty of how He healed you.
Share the beauty of how He restored your marriage.
Share the beauty of how He met you in anxiety and brought peace.
Share the beauty of how He gave you a new name, a new purpose, and a new hope.
This is how we preach in a world that’s tired of being preached at. This is how we love in a world that’s exhausted by division. This is how we embody the kingdom. By compelling lives around us with the beauty of what He has done in ours.
A FINAL CHARGE
The people around you are aching. They may not know how to ask for it. They may be too hurt to articulate it. But they are longing for the beauty your story carries.
You carry the beauty of Jesus.
Not because you’re perfect. Not because you have it all figured out. Not because you can answer all of their doubts and fears. But because grace has wrecked you in all the right ways and written a story of His goodness that bears witness of His power to make things beautiful.
So as 2026 begins, let this be your resolution:
Find the beauty. Share the beauty. Let it speak. Let it stir. Let it lead to the only one who saves.
Beauty → Goodness → Truth.
Let it be a band aid to the bleeding world around you.
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