All Things Valuable Are ...
Years ago, upon a visit to his home by his daughters, Muhammad Ali was said to have been taken aback by their appearance. He had some interesting advice for them concerning their modesty and attire:
“When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day. My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to. Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell. Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You've got to work hard to get to them.”
After sharing these thoughts with his daughters, he then said, “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls....”
"Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works" (1 Timonthy 2:9-10, ESV).
"Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:3-4, ESV).
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, ESV).
Sketching the Distortions of Self-Perception
Dove Soap is an icon in the American health and beauty industry. They have long been celebrated for their targeted ad campaigns exploring true beauty. One of Dove's recent tag lines is "You are more beautiful than you think." So, for its campaign titled Real Beauty Sketches, the company used a forensic artist to prove it.
Dove asked an FBI-trained forensic artist, Gil Zamora, to create sketches of seven women. The women were hidden behind a curtain; he never saw their faces. Rather, he “blind sketched” each one based on their self-descriptions. He then created a second “blind sketch” based on the descriptions of strangers who spent time “observing” the seven subjects.
The sketches were then revealed, side-by-side, to the subjects for them to observe the often startling difference between their self-perception and the perception of others.
Can you say “eye opening”?!
Dove says, as a company, they are committed to helping all women realize their personal beauty potential. This particular campaign was all part of a broader marketing campaign to help women discover their “real beauty.”
God is all about helping us to see our "real" beauty — not the beauty of external features, but the true beauty revealed from within as we conform ourselves to the image of Christ. There is no other, no greater image to which we can conform ourselves or compare ourselves.
Alternate Application: The question is not how we see ourselves, or even how others see us. The only question is how does God see us? In Him, we are declared perfect, blameless, holy. We are His beautiful Bride for whom He is returning. Walk in the light of how HE sees us!
"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, ESV).
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27, ESV).
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).
"And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24, ESV).
The Miracle Working Apple Seed
I peeled an apple for my 2-year-old grandson. As he was eating it, a seed became visible. He pointed to it and said, "bug!" So I explained that it was really a seed and that if he planted it in the ground it would grow into a huge tree and the tree would grow more apples with more seeds in them.
As I attempted to explain this to him, I realized how this had to sound so incredible, even magical, to him. He hadn't lived long enough to see these things and to learn to take them for granted, like the rest of us. In his innocent state, hearing about the power of an apple seed for the first time sounded like the stuff of fairytales.
Sadly, the awe and wonder of childhood fades with age as we learn to take the miracles of life for granted.
How much wiser we would all be if we could just go back and see the world again for the first time. If we could see the world through the eyes of a child.
Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).