Searching for Beauty

@CHADGRITTMAN

 

We are surrounded by it.

The magazines, blogs, your Instagram explore page. Everything we want and try to be in one picture. Most of us want to look or be just like someone else. Everywhere you look you see a woman to compare yourself to or a standard you think you have to live up to. Now, this does not mean that all social media is bad and should be abolished, but some things might need to be censored from our lives.

Do you ever look in the mirror and absolutely hate what you see? Truth is, you are not alone. Statistics show that one in four women on college campuses admits to binging and purging to control her weight. According to a study by NY Daily, women in the U.S. have spent an estimated  $75 billion on plastic surgery. That does not even include non-surgical procedures which – represent more than $12 billion spent.

This comes to no surprise to most of us, however. It is so obvious that beauty is on a pedestal in our culture. Sometimes beauty can give you attention from other people and boost self-worth. I think it’s fair enough to say that anyone reading this has probably used beauty to their advantage, or found self worth in their or another person’s beauty. You’ve probably heard it everywhere that “inner beauty is the only thing that matters”  or “you must tell yourself that you are beautiful every day.” Funny, because most people do not live their life this way.

This kind of seems hopeless, doesn’t it?

People tell us that beauty doesn’t matter, but for some reason everyone lives their life as if it does. No matter how many surgeries you get or how much money you put into your clothes, you will never be the prettiest person in the world. There is always going to be someone prettier, smarter, cooler and more likeable than you. So, how can we find acceptance outside of beauty which will never complete or satisfies us?

Beauty in itself is not a bad thing.

Beauty is a wonderful thing and it is seen in the way the mountains look during a sunset, in a nice painting, etc. Even doing things that make you feel more confident is not a bad thing. Heck, I love makeup because it is a hobby! But the way we have used it has twisted it to become almost evil. We are the ones who twist beauty around and make it a bad thing, using it to our advantage to get ahead and compare.

The question is, how do we take back beauty for what it was really made for? The way I understand the world, there is nothing more beautiful than to be in touch with the purpose God has created me for.

I have to tell you that the only way to ever truly be satisfied is not in beauty, money or a person, it is through the love of Christ. We were born separated from God, longing for all of these things that do not satisfy us. But because Jesus gave up his closeness with God, his Father, we can now have a relationship with him if we completely surrender our lives to him. This doesn’t mean we surrender through going to church or being a good person, but only by admitting we use other things to satisfy us and we need Him. We gain a relationship with him through having a belief that causes action.

I believe we are all deeply afraid of these insecurities being exposed to the world. To a much larger degree, Christ was tortured, mocked, and suffered the punishment for our wrongdoing. This is the only true beauty, the only way of what we see as beauty can be redeemed.

I also have to tell you that I have experienced all of what I have talked about. I constantly struggle with comparing myself to celebrities or my friends. This used to make me spiral into continual anxiety and even leading me to not take care of my body. I believe Christ is the only solution to all of this, and is where I am finding the only completeness.

 

 

Want to talk more about this?

Please comment, message, or connect with me through my Contact Page.