Remember “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” from Snow White. Most of us became familiar with this when we were kids. And sadly, that’s when many of us began to think that “happily ever afters” were only for the beautiful people. Our culture seems to be obsessed with physical appearance. And, for most of us women, we feel pressure to be what our society sees as beautiful. We see images of women the represent the ideal for appearance– skinny, beautiful hair and eyes, white teeth, stylish clothes, and a thigh gap to name a few. What’s up with the thigh gap thing anyway?
From the time that we are little girls, most of us desire to be beautiful. I remember hating my nose and trying to pull on it to make it longer and pointier. Didn’t work. And I remember wishing I was more “blessed” – you know what I mean. Now it’s fine with me as I don’t have a sagging problem now. 😊
Unfortunately, we live in a superficial world where people do judge on appearance. We would all love to say that we are not in the majority and that we look beyond what’s on the outside, but virtually all of us are influenced by the appearance of others.
There is some value placed on physical beauty in the Bible. Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel are all described as beautiful. But here are a few reminders from Proverbs that godly character matters far more than beauty.
“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.” Proverbs 11:22
“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Proverbs 31:30
As we all know and the verse above indicates, outward beauty fades as we age. I was never close to being a 10, but I’m definitely WAY down on the scale now. As we get older, wrinkles, gray hair, sun spots, waddles and even chin hair (or maybe that’s just me) appear. Some of us resort to Botox, plastic surgery, facial treatments, liposuction – whatever it takes to maintain our outward appearance.
The apostle Peter states that Christians should not be focused on outward beauty but rather on inner beauty:
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4
“… the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
So, should Christians care about physical appearance? I believe that the answer is “yes”, but with the strong caveat that our reason for caring should be that we want to please God in our bodies. There is nothing wrong with making the best of what the good Lord has given us as long as we don’t become obsessive about it. If the reason we try to be the perfect weight, wear fashionable clothes, have facials, etc., is to impress other people, then our physical appearance has become a matter of pride. We definitely need to keep appearance in perspective. The Bible encourages us to present ourselves as nicely as possible, but God does not call us to go to extremes. It is important that we remain aware of why we do the things we do to maintain or enhance our physical appearance.
Ask yourself the question, “Are you more focused on your appearance than you are on God?”
If you answered, “Yes” then you may need to examine your priorities. We should be more focused on our hearts and actions rather than on our image and appearance. And there are some aspects of our appearance that we just can’t change. We need to accept that God made us the way he did for a reason and that He knows what He’s doing. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14)
