It's Okay.

Who is the most beautiful person you know? What does it mean to be beautiful? Does physical appearance matter to you? To what degree? Does it matter to God?

I feel like when the topic of physical beauty comes around, some Christians want to pretend it is of no consequence. Yes, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Yes, appearance is not foundational to one’s identity. But…does that mean that physical beauty doesn’t matter?

I think it does. It matters to us and it matters to God. Look around you. Beauty surrounds you. Read Song of Songs…much of it is about physical beauty (“You are so beautiful, my beloved, so perfect in every part.” Song of Songs 3:7)! The problem is what we think ‘beauty’ is. The enemy has distorted how we think of beauty—he hates our beauty and he wants us to hate it in God, in us, and in others. Beauty isn’t measured by God the way we measure it…it’s not measured by highlights, taut skin or wrinkles, cellulite, beauty pageant tiaras, age spots, plastic surgeries, weight, name brands, gait, or height. We’ve got it so wrong. It flows from a spiritual beauty that comes from being a child of God. That makes us beautiful…physically beautiful. God has made EVERY female with a unique beauty that he wants her to reveal to the world in order to reveal himself to the world.

It’s important to feel beautiful, and we needn’t feel ashamed of that desire. It is devastating for a woman to not feel beautiful. The Eldridges write in the book Captivating, “This isn’t about dresses and makeup…don’t you recognize that a woman yearns to be seen, and to be thought of as captivating? We desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. We want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty all our own to unveil.”

God created us in his image (Genesis 1:27). God thinks we are beautiful; therefore, we are beautiful. It is blatantly clear to me that our God is a God who values Beauty—a physical beauty that flows from a beautiful heart.