On Female Beauty

[fredtgreco]

I think I'm on solid ground if I say that God is the source of natural evil. I have no problem asserting that God knits people together with defects or deformity as this is just one form of natural evil. It is all for his glory, but that does not mean that we are to just accept the way things are. That's a confusion of God's hidden will with his revealed will. Christ gave the example of healing those who have been marred by the fall. In this way we can see a glimpse of the restoration of all things breaking into this present evil age.

You haven't addressed my comparison of beauty with health. If God knits a person together with a hole in his heart, who are we to say that is unhealthy? After all, it was God's will to make him that way. If God can't make a person who is not beautiful then he can't make a person who is unhealthy.

Of course, none of what I wrote is intended to diminish the worth of a human life.

We can say that it is unhealthy because it is inherently unnatural - that is, not as designed by God before the Fall, and a result of sin.

Sin is still sin, and yet God uses that for His glory.

 

[Robert Truelove]

I think that this is an area where the church can be a major help. Does one's church adopt the standard of the world in regards to feminine beauty or the standards of the Scripture?

If the culture of the church is strong about what makes the 'fairer sex' fairer, this will be a major means of grace in the lives of ALL our beautiful Christian women.

I must note one exception however...of all the fair Christian ladies, my wife is the fairest! This wonderful Christian woman has been faithful to me for these last 15 years, has been an ever present sigil to point me to Christ when I need such aid, and has born me three fantastic children (and one on the way!). I would not be a fraction of the man I am today without her. Even as I lead her as a husband, she has been a powerful means of grace to me. May God bless her and grant her the full blessings of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Happy Valentines day my dearest Patricia! You are the loveliest, and the love of my life!

One of the things that distresses me most about modern culture is that there is a fake standard of beauty to which no woman can possibly attain. All you have to do is look at a few interviews with (even) supermodels, and they will tend to express dissatisfaction with their looks at some point. The only way to describe society's standards of beauty is to take the measurements of one woman, the face of another woman, etc., until you have the complete picture. Needless to say, no woman has all of this, and it is grossly unfair to women to expect them to attain to this nonexistent standard.

The effect such a standard has on men is evident from rampant p0rnography problems even in the church. Men are no longer satisfied with their wives, since their wives are (mentally) being made to conform to some outside standard of beauty.

The effect on women is that they become profoundly dissatisfied with their own looks, they become wildly insecure with regard to their husband's affections, and they push themselves to dangerous measures in order to obtain "that look."

The pressure to conform mentally to this standard is immense. We are bombarded with it every day. I would suggest that a biblical approach is needed here.

Men, each man's wife need to be the standard of beauty to her husband, to which standard all other women fall short. Whether this takes an act of the will or not doesn't matter here. Proverbs 5:15-19 is a pointer in this direction, certainly. Furthermore, men, you need to say this often to your wife. Women have notoriously short memories when it comes to whether or not their husbands have said that they love them. ;-) Men, it is your responsibility to let your wives know that you think she is the most beautiful creature on the planet. Period.

Women, instead of seeking to conform yourself to a non-biblical standard, work hardest on that inner beauty of which 1 Peter 3 and 1 Timothy 2 speak. Secondly, with regard to your outer beauty, do not feel that you have to conform to the world's standard of beauty. And, in turn, admire your husbands. Just as much as you love to hear from your husband that you are beautiful, so also does your husband's fragile ego need to hear that you admire his sterling qualities.