The world yearns for beautiful things, beautiful views, beautiful artwork, beautiful words, and beautiful people. God created man to crave beauty. He knows only He can satisfy that deep longing. The splendor of God’s glory is the very essence of beauty. Unfortunately, due to Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, sin entered God’s once perfect world and distorted man’s desire for beauty. "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The selfish, sin-stained world tries to satisfy their natural craving for beauty with objects that only temporarily satisfy their senses. A veil covers the natural man’s eyes, skewing his view of reality. Only God can remove that veil so His people can behold true beauty, His glory.
The Pursuit of Beauty
God created beautiful things to point us to Himself. The earthly beauty we see in creation, people, art, literature, and moments are all shadows of the Lord’s glory. Despite this truth, man stops short at these shadows. They focus on the seen rather than the unseen. God's creation values tangible beauty more than heavenly glory.
“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16
The World's Version of Beauty
Secular society describes beauty by what brings them pleasure, what pleases their senses, and what moves them.
“Beauty: the quality of being physically attractive; the qualities in a person or a thing that gives pleasure to the sense or mind; a beautiful woman” Webster's Dictionary
Because the world craves tangible beauty, they value the outward appearance of people more than the unseen beauty of God’s righteousness. Society judges something’s worth based on its appearance or how much “beauty” it exerts.
In order to correctly measure an object’s worth, you must have the right value system. Since man uses a flawed value system to measure beauty, they get flawed results.
Worldly Beauty's Effect on Women
Women obsess over their outward appearance to please themselves and others. The world's definition of female beauty constantly changes (less armpit hair, more makeup, darker skin, skinnier waste, bigger boobs etc.) Society is constantly setting a new standard for female beauty that girls have to live up to. Women constantly compare themselves to this unachievable standard leading to either vanity or insecurity.
Vanity
Vanity occurs when women feel as though they possess more beauty than another so that their heart fills with pride. Society says that in order to obtain beauty/self-confidence, women must focus on themselves. To achieve the world’s standard of beauty, women obsess over their weight, blemishes, makeup, body image, hair, nails, wrinkles, and almost anything else pertaining to the physical body. Vanity leads to other sin issues such as anorexia, addiction to exercise, extreme diets, and over-spending.
"The LORD says, “The women of Zion are haughty, walking along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, strutting along with swaying hips, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. Therefore the Lord will bring sores on the heads of the women of Zion" Isaiah 3:16-17
Women’s self-confidence increases dramatically after they spend time “improving” their appearance with beauty products. Women obsess over their appearance not only to please other people’s desire for beauty, but to please their own as well. The root of vanity is fear. Deep down, women fear what other people think about them. They crave approval, attention, and affection from fallen creatures incapable of fulfilling those needs.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." Philippians 2:3-4
Insecurity
Insecurity occurs when women feel as though another possesses more beauty than they so that their heart fills with shame. While the world does look down upon insecurity, they do not fight it with the right weapon. The world fights low self-esteem with self-improvement (vanity). This produces a vicious battle women can never win. Women feel good about themselves one second, admiring their own reflection a little too long. The next second, women flip through a magazine and return to the mirror to “fix” their appearance.
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." 1 Timothy 6:17
Society preaches all kinds of false messages in an effort to boost female confidence. Women obey all the self-help articles such as “tips and tricks for a better you”. They soak in the endless stream of worldly whispers “you are enough, focus on your wins, do what makes you happy, you deserve better.” Even professional psychologists diagnose insecurity with self-empowerment. Professionals contribute insecurity largely to our negative self-talk, diagnosing it with positive self-talk. This encourages insecure women to depend on compliments and attention (from themselves and others) to confirm they have reached the world’s definition of beauty.
"As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18
Women who chase after the world’s version of beauty are left discontent and empty-hearted. Vain and insecure women miss out on God’s all-satisfying beauty because their eyes are fixed on earth. God created beautiful things to point mankind to Himself. The earthly beauty humans see in creation, people, art, literature, and moments are all shadows of the Lord’s glory. Despite this truth, women stop short at these shadows.
They settle for the tangible shadow rather than the unseen reality of God's all-satisfying beauty, the sparkling reflection on the water rather than the sun itself.
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