True Beauty

Television today includes numerous reality shows revolving around wedding nuptials, which stress importance in physical appearance and grandiose events - everything from TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" to the Royal Wedding to ABC's "The Bachelor," which encourages couples to visit the altar after only a few short weeks of "dating."

These shows are sending a misconstrued message to our culture, emphasizing the significance of a fairytale day rather than focusing on the vital necessity to build a strong foundation for the actual marriage relationship that will follow.

It is also showing young teen girls that to get married or look beautiful they have to act and dress a certain way. Television has taught young girls to seek approval from men instead of God.

When I think about this, two verses really stick out to me:

• "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." - Proverbs 31:30

• "But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.' " - 1 Samuel 16:7

Instead of watching TV and learning about what the world expects from us we need to be seeking God and His plan for us and learning what He says about beauty.

I would encourage you to grab your daughter and watch this YouTube clip with her. It truly shows what reality is like, despite what culture is demanding our little girls do to fit in.

-- Jay