The Other Side Of Beauty: 7-Day Reading PlanSample

God did not make our bodies for public consumption or consumerism. We are not the sum of our physical attributes and what we can contribute to others’ satisfaction. All those thoughts about how we are not good enough, skinny enough, or perfect enough are, quite plainly, lies.

Let me tell you the truth: You are enough. You are more than enough. God made you, and God does not make junk. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13 NIV). You are not just a body; you are a body and a soul. You have an inmost being that does not come from your parents, from the physical DNA that they gave you, but comes from God Almighty who breathed life specially and intentionally into your very self. Not only did God create you, he continues to watch over you and care for you. “ ‘Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid’ ” (Luke 12:7 NIV).

You are more than your makeup, the number on the scale, or the designer of your clothes. You are more than your thick or thin hair, your skin color, the shape of your lips or eyebrows. You were not made to fit into some kind of beauty or fashion mold. You were made for more. . . . The Bible clearly tells us our worth is based on far more than what others can see on the outside, but when we buy into the culture’s imitation beauty and the objectification and diminished worth that follow, the cost is enormous. In fact, it goes way beyond our internal mind-sets and how we think about ourselves; it can even harm our very bodies. . . .

We’re all searching for value, for love, for beauty. While there is nothing wrong with looking good, we’ve sadly elevated it to a height that is unreachable, even by us. And yet we keep trying, fueled by comparison and competition. We see others as our competition instead of as our sisters in Christ. And so we forget who we are and that we are all in this together. This is the highest cost of imitation beauty: the loss of both who God made us to be and the community he designed for our good—and ultimately for the good of the world.