The Beauty Of Character 1 Peter 3:3-6 You should not use outward aids to make yourselves beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear. Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of the greatest value in Gods sight. For the devout women of the past who placed their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by submitting themselves to their husbands. Sarah was like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are now her daughters if you do good and are not afraid of anything. Proverbs 31:30-31 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone. The women are wandering about the living room, chatting, sipping drinks and nibbling on snacks. One by one they disappear into another room, where a doctor injects them with a syringe full of diluted botulinum toxin type A, better known as Botox. The drug temporarily paralyzes the muscles that cause wrinkles. Within days, a wrinkled forehead becomes as smooth as a young girls - at least for a few months. Injections must be repeated. Millions of people ask for Botox each year, in addition to the millions who will undergo costly surgery simply to make themselves look better. Why are we willing to spend so much for results that are so temporary? In When No One Sees: The Importance of Character in an Age of Image, philosopher 0s Guinness says it has to do with the modern worlds obsession with physical appearance. This obsession began, Guinness writes, when people started moving from country to cities, from small, stable, face-to-face relationships to fast, superficial, largely anonymous acquaintances. The result, he says, was an accomponying shift from an emphasis on internal character to ones externaI appearance. Thus the traditional ideal of the strong character has given way to the Striking personality and the successful image. The dramatic increase in cosmetic procedures is the mirror image of the decline of character, Guinness argues. plastic surgery was once confined to those with disfiguring war injuries. Having it for purely aesthetic reasons was considered a mark of vanity, because perfectibility was understood to lie within the spiritual, not the physical realm. But today, even teenagers are beating on the doors surgeons, anxious to remove that small bump on the nose or to enlarge that breasts. The danger of valuing image over character becomes clear in the political arena, Where good-looking candidates are considered more electable than less attractive ones. The same is true in other areas of life. How much wisdom and how many friendships do we miss out on because we look no further than someones plain face or gray hair? We need to beware of the modern tendency to admire imige and personality over character and conviction. One way to do this is to make an effort to get to know our neighbours in a deeper way - one that helps us look beyond physical appearance to inward character. To paraphrase Proverbs 31: 30, true beauty proceeds from the heart - not from a syringe of Botox. Prayer: Father, help me to worry less about my looks and more about my character. Teach me to value others, not for the beauty of their faces, but for the nobility of their hearts.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 22:10:55 +0000
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