BEARDS FOR BYU... Maybe.

Gimli?

Throughout the last year I have noticed that many of the students at BYU want to wear their beards. They understand that the honor code at BYU is strict, yet there is a lot of protest to that (see Beards for BYU on Facebook). Students throughout BYU are surely thinking about the possibility of beards being brought back to BYU, but no one knows for sure.

The real question is, why are beads banned from BYU? Beards were banned somewhere in the 1960's because of the counter-culture that was appearing. Longer hairstyles and beards were big, and the school administration did not see this as a good thing. So, beards were banned. Yet with a school that is professed to live the standards of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, then why the beards?

From Pinterest

First observation. Beards cannot be worn by temple workers. Second, General authorities cannot have beards. Third, full-time missionaries must be clean shaven. What do all of these people have in common? They represent the Lord. I find it very interesting that anyone in a position to represent the Savior must be clean shaven. Why is that? Is it because the Savior is clean shaven?

I cannot say a thing about that last question, but the answer to this came from Brother Brau's class in Finance 201. The reason why we don't wear beards is to not distract from out purpose of pointing others to Him. Now, I am not saying that this is true for all people, but I ask the reader to look inside him or herself and ask, "When others see me, do they think more of Him or of me? Do I glorify God, or myself?" 

"Ye are the light of the world," (St. Matthew 5:14) Christ taught. So if we are a light to the world, what light to we emulate? This has nothing to do anymore with just beards, but everything that we do. The way we speak, the way we treat others, and even ourselves. Do we reflect the Lord Savior in all that we do and are? 

This is much bigger than having beards or not, it is whether we are we willing to remember Him in all that we do. I have learned this lesson this week, and I hope that it is some inspiration to whoever is reading it. I wish to try my best to live up to the standards that I set for myself, so that I may be worthy of Him.