“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his statute; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” – 1 Sam. 16:7 (KJV)
The worldly standard is to judge someone by their appearance. With an ever-changing standard, there will never be the satisfaction of fulfilling this. The beauty industry exploits on this, using Instagram influencers to sell you the lie that you can buy your way to beauty and worth.
Social media and the obsession with outward appearances reminds me of Vanity Fair from Pilgrim’s Progress. I picture merchants luring women in and selling discontentment through TikTok trends and Influencers posting photos of themselves “living their best lives.” They perpetuate a lie that if only you look a certain way or own a certain product, then you can unlock status, opportunities, happiness, favor, and love. Don’t like your hair? Buy extensions and change its color. Don’t like parts of your body? Get plastic surgery. The deeper down the rabbit hole, the more your discontentment will grow, and soon enough, you don’t even look like yourself anymore–the woman God created you to look like. If you’re looking for the Lord’s favor, the One who created you isn’t looking to your outward appearance (Psalm 139:13-16).
This is not to say that wanting to look beautiful and putting effort into the way you look is sinful. God created women as natural beautifiers. The femininity in us is inclined to enjoy beauty and to want to look beautiful ourselves (which–sorry-not-sorry to the feminists–is also part of God’s design to attract and to be pursued by a man to become your husband and as a result to “be fruitful and multiply” (Proverbs 18:22, Genesis 1:27-28)). Beauty is something to admire, for we can look around creation and see evidence of the Creator who detailed such beauty in the world (Psalm 19:1)! Taking care of yourself is also not a sin, for we should be good stewards with our bodies and health. After all, we need good health to fulfill the biblical duties that God calls for women! Thus, we should not be sloppy in appearance: exercise, eat healthy, dress nicely and modestly, have good hygiene, and wear makeup (in a way that accentuates the natural beauty God gave you and not to hide it). Do all unto the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)!
However, there is a line that is crossed when beauty becomes an idol in your life. No matter what the world may try to sell you, you cannot buy your worth and identity, both of which are not rooted in your beauty anyway. Your worth and identity have been bought with a price that none of us could ever pay. Jonathan Edwards once said: “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” The wages of sinning against a holy God is death (Romans 6:23). The only One who could pay the ransom for our sin is He who did not sin, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 9:14).
The offer of salvation is to all, but it is only those who repent and believe that will be saved (Luke 13:3, Romans 10:9-10). Christ took our place on the cross, satisfying the wrath of God against our rebellious sin (propitiation atonement), and in turn, those who are saved receive the Holy Spirit and become clothed in His righteousness (Romans 3:22-25, 1 John 2:1-2, 4:10, Hebrews 2:17, Acts 2:38, Ephesians 1:13). You are reconciled to God through Christ and given a new identity and regenerated heart as you are adopted into the Kingdom of God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Titus 3:5-7, Ezekiel 36:26, Ephesians 1:5, Galatians 3:26, 4:5, John 1:12-13, 1 John 3:1-2, Romans 8:15).
Sin is what makes us ugly. We naturally have defiled hearts (Matthew 15:18) and a sin nature (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8). You cannot filter or photoshop your sin away. What makes us beautiful is the good fruits we bear when we forsake a life of sin for a surrendered life in Christ (Ephesians 4:22, 2 Corinthians 5:17). The only way we are able to do this is through the Holy Spirit, which we receive as a guarantee of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14). When we receive the Holy Spirit, we are abiding in Christ, apart from whom we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). If we try to do this on our own, we will fail. Abiding in Christ enables us to actively obey God’s commandments, which is what these good fruits are (John 15:8-10). Bearing good fruits (fruits of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23) is the very evidence that we have been saved (Matthew 7:16-20). After all, faith without works is dead (James 2:26), 1 John 5:3) for works and obedience are the fruit and not the root of salvation. We must not just be hearers of the words but doers of the word (James 1:22-25).
“Girls, your beauty shouldn’t be that which comes from time spent in front of a mirror, but rather time spent in front of the mirror of the Word of God.” — Alistair Begg
When we seek the Lord and His Word (in context), we grow in knowledge of who He is and His moral law, which in turn leads to wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:6, 9:10, 18:15, Ephesians 5:15-17, Colossians 3:16, Psalm 111:10). By it, we may test and evaluate ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Accepting Jesus as Lord over your life means living a life of surrendered obedience (John 15:14-15). Are you truly living out this walk? Are you bearing these fruits or are you walking in the works of the flesh? If you want to be beautiful, then good fruits should not be hard to find in you. Upon meeting you, someone should very quickly be able to see that you belong to the Lord, a daughter of God, reflecting and representing Christ to all who meet her (Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:20).
“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” Proverbs 31:30 (KJV)
