Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Beauty.

I was catching up on my Facebook news feed yesterday, and I came across this ad - right there on my news fed:


I don't know if I can express my anger at this enough.

I felt like this ad was telling me, "You need to lose weight in order to be beautiful." (Look at the website: Women Beauty Journal)

This is the kind of society I live in. That we live in.

A kind of society that tells women, "If you want to be beautiful, you need to lose weight. You need to be skinny. You need to be a size 0."

I am so sick and tired of being bombarded by all these messages from the media.

Going through the check-out at the grocery store, seeing tabloid magazines where they judge people on the front cover because they've gained a few extra pounds.

Or "beauty" magazines that have images celebrities on the front cover that have been Photoshopped to have longer limbs, longer neck, tanned skin, bigger breasts.

Walking down the street and seeing clothing ads that portray super skinny girls modelling the brand's clothing.

Browsing my own Facebook feed and seeing ads like this one.

By the way, this ad leads to some promo thing for some kind of exotic fruit extract that, "combined with a powerful colon cleanser, creates a fat burning machine." But it's a part of Women's Health Magazine.

Because losing 35 pounds in 5 weeks with this stuff is sooooo healthy.

Because it's sooooo healthy to think, "I just need to lose 10 pounds, 15 pounds, 50 pounds, and then I'll be beautiful."

And I'm not even gonna comment on what kind of articles it has on sexuality... That's a whole other rant...

I wish so much that women (and men!) would just see past media messages like this, to see their own true beauty! People, media is telling you lies that you will buy their products! They are LYING to you because they want you to pay them to "fix" your "problem." Their lies are soooo convincing sometimes, I know! I get it! But they are LIES!!!

My heart breaks for the next generation of girls, being exposed at younger and younger ages to messages from the media telling them that they're not beautiful enough...

My heart BREAKS for them, because they are going to grow thinking they're never going to be beautiful enough.

You know where I get my view of beauty?

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight." 1 Peter 3:3-4

I don't care what I physically look like. Why? Because God isn't looking at that.

I am not here to please other people. It does not matter to me how other people see me, how other people judge me.

The only judgment I care about is God's. The only opinion about myself that matters to me is God's. I want Him to look at me and smile. I want Him to look at me, and be please with what He sees.

But He's not looking at my physical body. He is looking at my inmost being. He looks at my heart, my spirit.

And I know that He LOVES what He sees!

And I know how cliche it sounds... "It's not the outside, it's the inside that counts."

But this is biblical! This is straight from the Lord!

And it's His Word that I trust over everything else.

It's His Love that I cling to over everything else.

It's His Truth that I believe over everything else.

Because His Word, His Love, His Truth, will never lie to me.

Ever.

Amen.

1 comment:

  1. Well said Stacey!! I love it. So very true.

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