An affluent city near us is known for its plastic surgery. It’s such a blessing for cancer patients, burn victims, or people who have been disfigured in car accidents. However, it’s very tempting for those with disposable income to use it to turn back time, erase wrinkles, lift that which sags, give where the Lord has taken away, and take away where the Lord (or the all-you-can-eat buffet) has given.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:17,18).
Father, you are love. You are loving. You have made us in your image, so we are lovely—and all the more so as you change us to look more and more like Jesus.
Forgive us for making our [flat] stomachs an idol and for worshiping smooth skin and toned tushes—as if those things will last, as if those things will satisfy the aching in our hearts. What we really want is approval, and we have that in Jesus, through his perfection. What we really want is acceptance, and again, through Jesus we already have it. What more could the world give us?
Cultivate a gentle inner beauty in us that draws others to seek you. Not for our admiration and glory but for yours. Amen.
