Are You Concerned About Your Appearance?

I would hazard a guess that most people would reply 'yes' to the question above. After all, it's the culture we live in. Every minute of the day we are bombarded with ads showing us how to be more beautiful. We spend a small fortune on everything from gym memberships, cosmetics and diet products. Even the women of the Bible must have looked like supermodels. Ruth caught Boaz's eye the first day she worked in his field; King Xerxes fell in love with Esther the moment he saw her; Rachel was "beautiful and well favoured". Even ninety-year-old Sarah was so beautiful, when she and her husband Abraham were traveling through Egypt, she was taken into the Pharaoh's house because of her beauty (Genesis 12 : 11 - 15).

Beautiful people seem to get the best breaks, regardless of the culture, but how much attention should you give to making and keeping yourself beautiful? Does God care whether you are beautiful or not? Well, He made you in His own image and likeness, therefore you will always be beautiful in His eyes, no matter what you or the world thinks.

Saul, king of Israel, was described as "a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people" (1 Samuel 9 : 2). However, when Saul disobeyed God, He sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse who had eight sons to anoint one of them king. Samuel looked at Eliab, the oldest, and thought he must be the chosen one. But God said to Samuel, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; 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 Samuel 16 : 7). In the end God chose David, whom he later referred to as "a man after his own heart."

There is nothing wrong in being careful about your physical appearance. After all, if you are representing "the fairest of ten thousand", then you should try to look fair yourself. David was "ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to," ( v 12), but he did not count on his looks to get him what he wanted. When he went to fight Goliath he said, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts ..." (1 Samuel 17 : 45). Queen Esther fasted in order to find favor with the king; Ruth obeyed her mother-in-law's instructions and secured herself a wealthy husband. Looks alone will not get what you want.

If you find yourself spending unnecessary time and/or money on your looks, consider the examples above. Being beautiful may get you where you want to go in this world, but it won't get you where you ought to be with God. If Jesus Christ lives in you, His beauty will shine through you and others will see it. Remember, you are made in His image and likeness. You are beautiful.