Question 1

How does God define beauty?

Accepted Answer

1 Samuel 16:7The Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”Psalm 51:6, 10, 17You desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. . . . The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.Psalm 57:7My heart is confident in you, O God; my heart is confident. No wonder I can sing your praises!Psalm 86:11-12Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you. With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever.Psalm 119:2, 34, 69Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. . . . Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart. . . . Arrogant people smear me with lies, but in truth I obey your commandments with all my heart.Proverbs 3:5Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.Proverbs 11:20The Lord detests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity.Proverbs 14:33Wisdom is enshrined in an understanding heart; wisdom is not found among fools.Proverbs 27:19As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.Matthew 5:8“God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.”1 Peter 3:4You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.God defines beauty, not by what is viewed in mirror, but by the qualities of our hearts. A repentant, pure, trusting, obedient, honest, understanding, and gentle heart appeals to God. This is where God sees beauty.

Question 2

I don’t like what I see in the mirror. How do I cope with that?

Accepted Answer

1 Samuel 16:7The Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”Proverbs 31:30Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.Isaiah 40:6A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.”Isaiah 53:2-3My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.1 Corinthians 15:50-53What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.1 Timothy 4:7-8Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”1 Peter 3:3-5Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands.While it is true that the world focuses on outward beauty, it is equally true that outward beauty fades and does not last. Our physical bodies are merely a temporary housing for our eternal souls. Believers in Jesus will eventually receive a transformed, glorious, eternal, spiritual body. While it is important to care for our physical bodies during our time on earth, we should focus on developing the inward beauty of our spirits. We may not think of ourselves as physically beautiful, but our godliness will help others see the real beauty within us.

Question 3

What can I do if others call me ugly, or if I feel that way myself?

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 29:15-16What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The Lord can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!” How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?Psalm 139:13-16You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.The world’s perception of ugliness is not God’s. When the world or we ourselves call what God has made “ugly,” we are questioning God’s character, power, and wisdom. We may well believe God made mistakes with us. Rejecting God’s work in our lives makes no more sense than a pot questioning its potter. Ugliness in our lives can be addressed by first asking if we have brought about the ugliness we and others can see, and if so, repentance is in order. But if the ugliness is simply present through no fault of our own, we can surrender to God’s plan and ask him to bring beauty where we can only see ugliness.Isaiah 53:1-6Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.The picture of Jesus given by Isaiah reminds us that Jesus experienced both a lack of physical beauty and various repeated accusations of ugliness. When we struggle with feeling unlovely and unlovable, we must remember that he knows those feeling firsthand. His companionship with us is not just his presence, but his likeness to us.Matthew 8:1-3Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.Feeling ugly leaves us seeing ourselves as untouchable. The world seldom hesitates to agree with us. Jesus made it a practice to touch those who were officially and in all likelihood visually untouchable. Whatever is causing our ugliness would never prevent Jesus from reaching out to us. He makes whole what the world is inclined to call ugly.John 9:1-14As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied. Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him.God allows certain experiences into our lives including ugly ones, not because we have sinned, but because he intends to do something beautiful in and through us. The man born blind had to live a long time with the suspicions of others that he or his parents had sinned and caused his handicap. Jesus corrected those unjust and heartless assumptions by healing the man. God continues to bring about beauty by direct healing as well as through the advancements in medicine and science.

Question 4

What can make me more attractive or appealing?

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 52:7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!Proverbs 19:22Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.Proverbs 3:3Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.1 Timothy 4:7-8Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”1 Timothy 2:9-10I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.1 Peter 3:3-6Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.Living out our inner beauty makes us more attractive. Outer beauty makes a good first impression, but inner beauty makes a lasting impression.

Question 5

Can it be dangerous to be beautiful?

Accepted Answer

Proverbs 11:22A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.Isaiah 53:3He [the Messiah] was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.Matthew 23:27“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.”Appearances can be deceiving.Ezekiel 16:25On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution.Beauty can be used for evil.Ezekiel 28:11-19Then this further message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, sing this funeral song for the king of Tyre. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. . . . I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your rich commerce led you to violence, and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. . . . Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. . . . You have come to a terrible end, and you will exist no more.”Beauty can lead to pride.Genesis 12:11-12As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’”Genesis 39:7Potiphar’s wife soon began to look at him lustfully. “Come and sleep with me,” she demanded.2 Samuel 11:2-5Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her. She had just completed the purification rites after having her menstrual period. Then she returned home. Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message, saying, “I’m pregnant.”Proverbs 6:25-26Don’t lust for her beauty. Don’t let her coy glances seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man’s wife will cost you your life.Nahum 3:4, 6-7All this because Nineveh, the beautiful and faithless city, mistress of deadly charms, enticed the nations with her beauty. She taught them all her magic, enchanting people everywhere. . . . I will cover you with filth and show the world how vile you really are. All who see you will shrink back and say, ‘Nineveh lies in ruins. Where are the mourners?’ Does anyone regret your destruction?”Beauty may bring temptation. We often mistakenly think that sin is obviously ugly and repulsive, when in actuality, sin usually comes disguised as beautiful and enticing.Proverbs 31:30Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.1 Peter 3:3-6Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.Outward beauty is temporary. Inner beauty is lasting and ultimately pleasing to God.