What is True Beauty?

This past Sunday, we talked about Authenticity, which is being comfortable with who you actually are. As the father who’s trying to raise two girls to be authentically comfortable in their own skin, I think quite a bit about what culture says to women about what’s important. Many people — both men and women — struggle deeply with appearance issues. It’s easy to idolize a certain kind of look or body shape. One thing that can be helpful is to realize that many of the images and people we see and admire for their impeccable beauty or figure are not real. They look that way because of unnatural surgery, simple Photoshop editing, or other tips and tricks that fool the eye (or camera). When you realize that much of it is pretend, it frees you to not worry about living up to an unrealistic standard — after all it is unrealistic.

The following video that was produced as part of the Dove Evolution campaign provides an interesting look into this. I want to teach my girls that they are defined by what Jesus thinks of them and that basing their identity is like shadow-boxing, where you just can’t win.