From The Desk of:

BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

As a society we are preoccupied with beauty. We literally spend millions of dollars on beautifying products. We extol and closely follow the lives of beautiful celebrities. Beautiful things are favored over things which are not, even when the beautiful thing is not the thing which is most beneficial. This points to how beauty can sometimes mislead us.

God made beauty when he created our beautiful world (Eccl.3:11). He made “every tree that is pleasant to the sight,” gave “goodly wings unto the peacocks,” and put the beautiful colored rainbow in the clouds (Gen.2:9; 9:13-14; Job 39:13). He even made beautiful people such Sarah (Gen.12:11), Rachel (Gen.29:17), Joseph (Gen.39:6), and many others. The bible says Moses was “exceeding fair” (Acts 7:20). However, physical beauty is not the important thing. If it was, Jesus would have been beautiful. Contrary to popular paintings and pictures, the scriptures describe Jesus another way. “…he hath no form or comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is not beauty that we should desire him” (Is.53:2). Physical beauty also fades as we get older and totally vanishes in the grave (Ps.49:14). In other words, it will not last because it is only skin deep.

One can also be physically attractive and very ugly at the same time. Nice clothes, makeup, and hairdressers may enhance eternal beauty that is skin deep but contributes nothing to true beauty. True beauty resides deep within the faith, heart, and actions of a Christian (1 Tim.2:9-10; 1 Pet. 3:1-4). This is the beauty that God loves. God who looks at the heart and not at the outward appearance chose David to be king who was physically beautiful (1 Sam.16:6:7,12). However, David was not chosen because he was handsome but because he had an obedient heart (1 Sam.13:14; Acts 13:22). Christians are beautifully reborn in the likeness of Christ through the gospel (Jn.3:5; 2 Cor.5:17; 1 Pet.1:22-23; 1 Jn.2:29; 5:18). Every Christian is beautiful! Their beauty comes from their faithfulness. An unfaithful child of God is ugly even if they have movie star looks (Mt.23:27-28). That beauty is only skin deep. So, stay radiantly beautiful by keeping the faith, dear Christian! “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised” (Pr.31:30).

Richard Stevens III