Many people are never satisfied with themselves or their lives - their past or where they are headed in the future. And, the way they feel about how they look…forget about it. There is an entire discipline in the medical field designed to help people feel better about who they are (at least how they look). A little more of this, a little less of that, a nip here, a tuck there - where does it all end? Are we all placing too much value on appearance and not enough on true substance?
I posted a survey here last month asking people their opinions on plastic surgery and the idea of getting “work” done. People ran across the entire range, there was not clear consensus. As a thoroughly unscientific analysis, it seemed people at least consider doing something about how they look and would change something if they could afford it and didn’t feel like they wouldn’t end up looking odd.
Research by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery shows that in 2006, nearly 11.5 million Americans had some sort of surgical or nonsurgical “adjustments” made to their appearance. To show how drastically this trend has grown, since 1997, there has been a 446-percent increase in the number of cosmetic procedures performed. Maybe you’re one of those 11.5 million people. If you are, don’t beat yourself up. I only bring this up as a point to demonstrate the degree if dissatisfaction people have with some aspect of who they are.
The beginning of real satisfaction in life begins with knowing who you are. If you don’t have a sense of that, you are starting off in the hole. The journey to where you want to be is an inside job.
Proverbs 23:7 puts it very clearly, “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Another anonymous writer puts it this way when thinking about how we think about ourselves, “Love yourself, for if you don't, how can you expect anybody else to love you.”
Part two of the impromptu poll, is it okay to try to improve God’s handiwork with your appearance? What do you think?
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