Be The Fruit

I. T. – Are you driven to be beautiful?

by Bill Blair on 17/07/08 at 5:40 am

Peter wrote, “Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing – but let your adorning be the hidden person for the heart with imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet 3:3-4)

In this verse, the clear teaching is to not focus on external beauty, but beauty within.  Elsewhere the Bible states, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised”(Prov 31:30).  Here again, the emphasis is on character rather than external beauty.  I don’t think anyone would argue the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that the only lasting beauty is that which is inside.

When I look at our culture, however, it is clear to me that we are obsessed with how we look.  The above verses targets women, but men are susceptible as well.  I know there was a time for me when I was borderline obsessed with the notion of how my body looked.  During my early teen years, I was a fat kid so as I got older, there were times when I got caught up trying to develop a “good body.”  There was a point in time, before I became a believer, that I was totally focused on working out all the time.  At a couple points, I got “cut” and had a “6-pack”(abs showing), but I was not very healthy.  One of the ways I did it was by taking Ripped-Fuel, a caffeine/ephedrine supplement which basically is a strong stimulant, and I smoked at the time.  Those things together helped me not eat as much and stimulated my metabolism so  I could achieve the “ripped’ look I wanted.  I looked good, according to some standards, but I was not healthy in my body or my spirit.

The truth is that during that period of time, I was totally driven by how I looked in the mirror.  But for what?  I wanted to look good so other people might think I look good.  I was controlled by the opinion of the world.  That is what happens when how we look or beauty becomes the god of our lives.  It is not our looks that is the god, but it the opinion of others.  The world says how we should look, and we desperately strive to look that way so “everybody” thinks we look good.  We take supplements, try all the new face creams, makeup, face lifts, tummy tucks, pec implants, etc…  It seems there is nothing we won’t do to achieve the look the world thinks is best. 

There is no question that external beauty is an idol for many people today.  We all need to be careful that what we wear and how we look does not become the controlling factor in our lives.  We need to let God control our lives.  Both men and women need to concentrate on aligning their character with God and not focus on their appearance.  The world focuses on appearance, but God focuses on our character.  Be controlled by God and not the world.

I intend to write on this more later, but if you dig into the subject of beauty, you will learn that beauty is very subjective.  When you see the subjectivity of beauty, you will see that whatever ultimate look of beauty you are striving for is ultimately just a lie. 

Until next time, put God first and “be the fruit.”