Where did the notion of I'm ugly came from
This notion of ugly came about as a result of failing society's beauty- image- match- up- test. Friends, we should never compare ourselves with anyone. The Lord does not want a world of look-a-likes. He made us as individuals and we should endeavor to preserve our own individuality.
Beauty in this perverted society is
primarily physical attractiveness. Have you ever wondered how society came up
with an image of beauty when every man and
woman on planet earth have varying features? There are no established trends, for
everyone looks different. So why was this superficial, commercially promoted
slim, tall, blue eyed and blond hair for woman, and tall, dark, buffed and
handsome image for men created? It was created by the devil
himself. He knows that man is vain. So if he can get man excited and
preoccupied with improving self, by placing before him a supposed upgrade, this
image of beauty, rather than praying for the
spirit of God to
live within us, he will be successful in preventing the
image of God from being recreated in us.
The sad reality is that, most of us do not want to look like Christ. Primitive
godliness is not our desire. We want to evolve and become sophisticated. We want
make-overs. But our beauty project will never materialize for self never
gets better, and this fascination with self- improvement will keep us in sin,
thus accomplishing the goal of the devil. As
a matter of fact, we will get worse. Just take a look in the mirror and you will
see the face of beauty. You are not ugly as some may think, you are beautiful
just as you are. There is beauty in everything. The problem is that some
cannot see it. This is why beauty is subjective. It is in the eye of
the beholder. True beauty is intangible. Beauty is not so much seen, as
it is experienced. Ignorance of this fact is the reason some married men will
admire other women. For them, beauty is tangible. That's why their heads keep
spinning around when certain women pass by. Physical beauty will not
perpetuate year after year, it will fade as the body deteriorate, thereby his
wife is no longer beautiful to him and he gets excited about younger women.
His attraction is physical. If it was all about the character
of a woman, her mind set, he will not get excited about every woman
that he meets because he cannot see her mind. Therefore, an experience is
needed for him to consider her truly beautiful.
When that situation is true, he will stand by his wife even if she is disfigured
by a tragic accident. A man of such understanding will push his wife's
wheelchair with pride, and others looking on
will wonder what is that handsome man doing with that handicapped
woman, but to him, his wife did not change. She is still
beautiful as ever. Why, because her character is intact
and somehow it seems to permeate her entire being making pleasant the appearance
to her husband.
Consider Samson. Beauty for him was tangible. When he saw
Delilah, without
knowing what kind of woman she was on the inside, but because she was beautiful
on the outside in his estimation, his exclamation was, "she pleaseth me
well." If he had the ability to see within her heart,
would his exclamation have been different? Maybe not. Some men and women sacrifice
their soul salvation on the altar of physical
beauty. Immediate gratification is the order
of the day. I want her/him and I want her/him now, is the attitude of
many. Getting the man/woman is more important than researching the
credibility of the individual first. By that time, after giving themselves
to this strange beautiful individual, a slur of "if I had known" are
the only words that are uttered. Postponed gratification was never
thought, learned nor practiced. Rather a host of good characteristics are
attributed to the physically attractive. Anything physically beautiful is
good for many. And anything that one perceives to be ugly, in his/her
estimation, is bad. Some of us know that the man or the woman is no good,
but because she is beautiful and he is handsome, they pay a high price and
sacrifice all the virtues outlined in the Bible
for a pretty companion. Concluding that someone is "truly"
beautiful merely on a surface evaluation is the result of society's shallow
superficial teachings. That is the problem. We
are caught up with a surface, sophisticated representation of beauty rather than
true inner beauty which only comes from a relationship with Christ.