There are words on the side of my shampoo bottle that evidence a problem with the modern concept of beauty:
Say yes to beautiful
Without paying the price.
These remind me of a conversation I had years ago with a girl in high school. We were talking about how much the extremely high heeled shoes she was wearing hurt her.
Me: So why do you wear them?
Her: Because society says they’re beautiful.
When I heard her say that, the first thing that struck me was how sad it was. It seems that we’re either unwilling pay anything for what we want, or we’re willing to pay the wrong price.
I think the problem is found in our definition of beauty. Beauty is not something that can be bought or sold. When someone is beautiful, it is not because of anything they’ve done to themselves or what society says about them. Rather, beauty is a quality found in the nature of a person, in how they act towards others, in what they think, say, and do.
Look at 1 Peter 3, verse 4:
. . . but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit . . .
Look past the context of the passage and the controversy it can create. What I want to note is that beauty is here associated with a “gentle and quiet spirit.”
As Christians, we must be careful not to buy into the societal definition of beauty. If we do, it can cause all sorts of problems—self esteem issues, eating disorders, prejudice, discrimination, pride. Remember that beauty is found not in who we make ourselves externally, but in who we are in heart and spirit.
