By: Sarah Fox
What is True Beauty?
Usually, whenever we hear anything about beauty, we tend to think about makeup, the latest fashions, Victoria Secret models, or even Disney Princesses. What if true beauty was more than just skin deep?
A few months ago, I was watching a movie called Lying to be perfect. This movie really opened my eyes to the dilemma that we as women struggle with every single day about body image.
*(This article may contain spoilers).
This movie was about a group of friends who were tired of being treated differently because they were overweight. In a desperate need to be respected for who they were, these ladies decided to go on a diet together. They wanted to prove to the world that they could reclaim their lives by losing weight and regaining their self confidence. One of the girls in particular, (her name was Nola Devlin), created an advice column in a famous magazine for women who feel desperate for love and boldness in their lives. She created this character called “Belinda Apple” who she used as a mediator to get her views across.
When “Belinda” is called to a party to launch her new book, Nola now has to make a decision. Is she going to reveal that she herself is Belinda, or is she going to continue with this charade?
“True Beauty comes from loving yourself the way God made you.”
This movie taught me that true beauty doesn’t come from being a size four super model, or even a size 22 plus. True beauty is all about loving yourself just the way God made you. The Bible says that God made everyone in his own image and he saw that everything he made was good (Genesis 1:27;Genesis 1:31).
“You are special and fearfully and wonderfully made by your Creator.”
You see, the ladies in the movie didn’t need advice from Belinda Apple or a “Cinderella Pact” to help them lose weight. They needed to know that they were special and fearfully and wonderfully made by their Creator (Psalm 139:14). Don’t get me wrong, there is no harm in wanting to lose weight.People lose weight for a variety of reasons, but you have to check your motives. If you are losing weight just to fit in or feel loved and beautiful, then you have the wrong attitude.
“Your worth comes from God’s view of you.”
To be honest, I use to feel the same way. I constantly kept hearing from doctors and even my own family, that I needed to lose some weight. I did recognize that losing weight was important to my health, but my motives for doing so were not healthy. I always thought that if I was a size four or even eight, I would be more beautiful and recognized by others. I measured my self confidence by what others thought of me.
“Don’t allow the opinions of others to dictate how precious you are.”
Once I realized that my value and worth comes from God’s view of me, all that recognition from others didn’t matter anymore. True beauty is not measured by the outside appearance. God doesn’t look at our physical appearances, he sees our hearts and the depth of who we are (1 Samuel 16:7).
“Your beauty should not come
from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles
and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather,
it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty
of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in
God’s sight.”
1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV).
The truth is, God loves beauty and he adores you just the way you are. In fact, everything God created speaks of his own beauty. You are his MASTERPIECE (Ephesians 2:10)! God created you to be beautiful, confident, amazing, bold, vibrant, and strong. He loves you just the way you are and no amount of makeup, pacts, or glass slippers can change that!
*(The Cinderella Pact is a book by Sarah Strohmeyer).
This song by Nicole Nordeman really helped me to learn that God sees me as his precious creation regardless of anyone else’s opinion.
Sarah I. Fox 
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