THE BEAUTY FACTOR
We all fall victims of
going to one of two extremes: either beauty is magnified above its God
given role as a gift to the creature or it is vilified as being
unspiritual or worldly.
Your inner beauty is meant to be verification that your outer beauty is not deceptive but genuine.
Men, especially delight
in beauty; it pleases them, and almost every man has beauty as part of the qualities
he looks out for in a wife. However, listing beauty as a quality you look out
for in a life partner is met with lengthy advice; the common statement being “charm
is deceptive, and beauty is fading . . .” The Akans will tell you, “yennfa ahoofe nko aware” which
literally means, we don’t base on beauty to marry.
We
are created beautiful
As much as we are
cautioned not to place much emphasis on outer beauty, we cannot also neglect
the fact that we are created beautiful by God, beautiful in all areas; our
height, weight, stature, speech, shape etc. and this beauty is to be adored and
appreciated.
From the Bible, Adam no
doubt saw Eve to be a very beautiful woman; Sarah’s beauty was not doubted; Rebekah
was very beautiful; Rachel had a beautiful figure; Esther was lovely and
beautiful; Abigail was a woman of intelligence/sense and beautiful countenance,
and the virtuous woman’s beauty cannot be overlooked.
Men are not exempted; they
were also addressed to be beautiful. Absalom was the most praised in all Israel
for his beauty; Moses was a beautiful child, and Joseph was a handsome young
man.
As much as we are also
created beautiful by God, it is important for us to know that our good
character makes us attractive. In fact, I have met a lot of people who looked
very “attractive and beautiful”, but upon realizing their “ugly” character, it
took away their beauty. Likewise, I have met others who didn’t look “beautiful
and attractive”, but upon continuous encounter with their lovely character,
they appeared very “beautiful and attractive.”
Beauty
lies in the eyes of the beholder
We all have different interpretations
of beauty; we see beauty from different angles. I spoke to a young man who was
in search of a life partner. He told me he was looking for a lady with dimples
that can even contain a bucket of water. To another, he was looking for one
with that curvy “coca cola” bottle shape.
Some regard light-skinned
people as more beautiful than the dark-skinned ones. To others, you can’t
compare anything to what they call black beauty. Some talk about “slim things”,
others talk about “obolo”. Some even use people’s smile to define their beauty.
There are those who
also see beauty in people’s mannerisms. They see beauty in modest dressing,
good speech, gentleness, respect and submission.
Truly, beauty lies in
the eyes of the beholder.
Creating
a balance
However, we need to
create balance, and there is a balance concerning beauty in the Bible. On one
hand, there is to be a primary focus on inner beauty, but that is not to the exclusion
of outer beauty, and yet we are warned not to look only at outer beauty (1Tim.2:9-10;
1Pet.3:3-5). This is because if outer beauty lacks inner beauty, it is
deceptive.
A common Akan axiom says
“w’ahoofe de wo beko, wo suban de wo beba”,
literally, your beauty will send you, and your character will bring you
back. Outer beauty might have the attraction power, but inner beauty has the
retention power!
Your inner beauty is meant to be verification that your outer beauty is not deceptive but genuine.
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