"Daisies" - Amy Lawrence

Daisies

A Study on Comparison

There is no shortage of photographs of women (and sometimes even men) that have dedicated a great deal of time, money, and pain to make themselves appear young and “beautiful”. Plastic surgery has become a fad. The market for products that claim to restore youth - or at least the halting of aging - is a multi-billion dollar business. Whether it’s clothing, makeup, hairstyles, or overall body image, we as women put a lot of stock in how we look. This idea of beauty, as we see it with our limited vision, is not foreign to scripture, either. Sarah was beautiful, so much that Abraham was afraid he would be killed by men that saw her beauty and wanted her for themselves, Gen. 12:11-12. Ahasuerus, king of Medo-Persia, wished to show off his beautiful queen, Vashti, to the nobles, princes, and servants of his kingdom, Esther 1:1-11.

Women aspire to be beautiful because it garners an often desirable attention and placement within a social structure. We want to fit in. Because of this, we tend to base our worth on our personal image. It is a blow to a woman’s self-esteem to be considered “ugly”. We are all beautiful, though, because we are all made in the image of God, Gen. 1:26, by the hand of God, Ps. 139:14.

Let’s begin a study on beauty.

Let us first look at some facts. As of 2022, the average lifespan of a female citizen of the Unites States of America is 80.2 years. (They must not have included Betty White in that average.) Medical research over the centuries has discovered that collagen production in the human body begins to decrease by our mid-20s. Wrinkles naturally start to appear within 40 to 50 years of age, and our hormone production decreases. Other factors that also need to be taken into account are diet, exercise, exposure to sun and other radiation sources, and overall health. Now, let’s allow all this information to paint a picture. By the time we figure out what beauty even is, we’ve spent a decade of childhood not even caring about beauty. We spend the next 10 years figuring out that there’s a societal standard to which we must adhere in order to really be considered “beautiful” by our preferred social circle. Once we finally get it figured out, WHAM, old age hits us square in the ego. We get to enjoy being old nearly thrice as long as we get to be young. It is daunting, to say the least. Coming to terms with the brevity of this life makes us consider the quality of the things to which we dedicate ourselves. That begs the question: is beauty by worldly standards a quality thing?

It’s natural to want to be attractive. Our outward appearance is also a form of communication. It can speak of our state of mind, social status, even our standard of morality. We often forget that whether we like it or not, we are judged by our appearance. It’s human nature. When we see an individual, we make assumptions about that individual based first on what we see. Most pass judgement based solely on appearance. Jesus warns against this, Jn. 7:24. Don’t use this as an excuse to look however you wish to, though. Remember - we are ambassadors for Christ. It matters what we wear, Gen. 38:12-19, Prov. 7:6-10, 2 Sam. 13:18. We should want to look like Christ. Our garments must be appropriate, Mt. 22:11-14.

Our focus should also be appropriate. When we focus on God and His righteousness, everything else will fall into place as it should, Mt. 6:33, Rom. 8:28. Our beauty should not just be an outward one. Only God can make our inner woman gorgeous, Prov. 31:30. Consider what it is we are trying to accomplish. Our lifelong goal should be to give God glory. We were not put here to shine our own light. None of it is ours, Is. 42:8; 48:11. We are merely reflections of the true Light, Jn. 8:12. If this truth remains at the forefront of our minds, then our appearance and our actions will publish it to those around us, Rom. 12:1-2. Then and only then can we draw others toward God. We are His Creation, made in His likeness, to do His will.

I mentioned that this is a study on comparison. I say ‘compare’ because that is an innate behavior; we can’t help but observe ourselves/others and use that to fit into our preferred social setting. We are hardwired to build communal relationships using comparison…but sometimes it leads to competition instead of coalition. We as the church often forget that unity is a command, Eph. 4:1-3. When our focus as women within the body of Christ is a beauty contest, we weaken the unity. A daisy in a meadow doesn’t compete with the daisy next to it. They both just bloom. When we endeavor to bring out the beauty in each other, this allows every Christian woman to bloom.