We all know that the women on magazine covers are fake. We've all seen the video about how much photo editing it takes to make a person look "flawless." (If you haven't it's definitely worth seeing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U) But the thought I was having as I drove between jobs today was this: how many of us are still buying into the lie that those magazine models are the personification of beauty?
Think about it: so many of us are still purchasing spray tans, concealers, inch-thick push-up bras, wrinkle creams, etc., etc., etc. You can even buy undergarments like "Spanx" to pretend that you're skinnier than you are, even though the potential dangers of wearing them are strikingly similar to those of the 19th century corset. And all of it goes toward putting on a show that disguises who we really are and turns us into these characters who we hope will be considered as beautiful as those digitally-altered models in the check-out aisle. And what's all of it for? Don't we just feel like objects when we're ogled at the grocery store or approached by creepy strangers at the gas station?
Some of the most beautiful women I know aren't young. They're not pretty. They don't have flawless skin or perfectly toned bodies. They don't have anything going for them when it comes to our culture's definition of beauty, but they love. They nurture. They smile and laugh with the joy of heaven. They've proven to me that Jesus' definition of beauty is very different from ours.
There's nothing wrong with being pretty, but I don't think being pretty has anything to do with God's description of a woman who is valuable in His eyes.
We've heard it before, but may we begin to live in light of His truth:"Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30
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