Is the Quest for Enhanced Physical Beauty Scriptural?

Most of us are familiar with the cliché that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. While we may not agree with it, the world tells us that we can do something to our bodies to enhance their value in the beauty department. This is why the cosmetics industry is a trillion dollar business! In fact, some women cannot step out of their homes without make-up. Others have taken this a notch higher by going under the knife to reshape their facial features: while others have used chemicals to peel their skin for that flawless white tone. As believers in Yeshua, could we ‘upgrade’ our physical features radically without offending God?

        Objectivity should be the watchword of every child of God. Thus, the word of God should guide our judgment on all issues of life since He is never partial. The first place to look for beauty is in God’s original creation as recorded in Genesis chapter one. Verse 31 captures God’s assessment of His work, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely.” That was before satan entered the serpent and used it to deceive Eve. In spite of the fall, we see glimpses of earth’s original beauty in nature – diversity of plants, flowers, insects, animals, majestic mountains, waterfalls etc. God did not sting in giving the earth unsurpassable beauty. Even the ocean floors have unique beauty of their own with unique creatures in them.

The fact that God loves beauty is clearly shown in the tabernacle that Moses built in the desert as the Israelites journeyed to the promised line. In Exodus 28:2, God said to Moses, “You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” I used to ponder what this meant until a brother said that the Lord told him that His children should dress elegantly. According to Oxford Online Dictionary, elegance is the quality of being graceful and stylish. Cambridge defines it as the quality of being graceful and attractive in appearance and behaviour. Linking outward beauty with behaviour agrees with 1 Peter 3:3-4, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.”

        Of course, the world would not promote this kind of truth, but would rather shout from the rooftop, “God helps those who help themselves”, even though this no Biblical basis. Consequently, the world tells you to ‘do something about your looks’ through the many advertisements on mass media that show you people who have enhanced their looks with cosmetics. Though these adverts are patent lies, many gullible people, especially women spend their fortunes trying to look like the models who were paid to sell the lies. On the other hand, some people expose themselves to harmful products like chemical peels to turn their complexion from dark to ‘white’. Others reshape their mouths, noses, teeth, foreheads, chins etc. The fact that some of the surgeries have disfigured or killed many women has not stopped others from embarking on the elusive quest for enhanced physical beauty.

         My take is that satan takes a delight in making us dissatisfied with what God has provided for us. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “For His divine power has bestowed on us (absolutely) everything necessary for (a dynamic spiritual) life and godliness, through true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” What Adam and Eve lost after the fall was God’s glory. Romans 3:23 corroborates this, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That was the source of the beauty of man.

        Since the fall, man has been trying his best to use cosmetics to mitigate the loss of God’s glory. When I look at some over-painted women, they look so unnatural and clownish: a testimony to the fact that fallen man has exchanged the glory of God for counterfeit beauty. Salvation provides the surest way to glory and this is only through the merit of the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua, the Son of the Living God.

        God’s glory is the only beauty worth pursuing. Physical beauty fades with time regardless of the type and quantity of cosmetics we apply to conceal our wrinkles. Therefore, choose God’s glory by surrendering your life to Yeshua today. Stop piercing yourself through with many sorrows in your quest to enhance your physical features through dangerous medical procedures. “Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”