Today, as I was waking up and Katya was still lying there beside me, I was thinking about what true beauty is. My wife is beautiful, and I try to tell her that every day. One of my nicknames for her is “Beautiful.” I think, though, as a global culture, we’ve gotten away from the celebration of true beauty in a person.

I’d like to invite you to look at these two images and ask you to think for yourself, “Which one of these is a beautiful woman?”

If you answered, “The one on the left,” you are correct. Any other answer raises something fake to the level of a beautiful masterpiece made in the image of God.

No, my wife doesn’t always have her hair perfectly made, her makeup on (actually, I think I’ve only seen her in makeup 4-5 times), and a perfect tan, but that is not what makes her beautiful. Why is it that we miss the beauty of a woman because she doesn’t live up to the standards that the world sets for us?

Here’s my second point – the images on TV, on magazines, on billboards, etc., etc. – those are all just as fake as a barbie doll! If your standard of beauty is comparing women (especially your wife) to images that have been touched-up a thousand times by some graphics artist, then you will always be disappointed.

If, instead, you choose to look at them as the masterpieces that they are (Ephesians 2:10), created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and fellow heirs in grace of God (1 Peter 3:7), you will respect them for who they are and see them with their true beauty! Jesus purchased her from her own sin and death, just like He purchased you – so her identity is in Christ, not in the shape of her body or the clothing / makup she wears (1 Peter 3:3-4)!

She is God’s masterpiece.

I intentionally picked a picture that wasn’t exactly the best of my beautiful wife (sorry honey!) to show more of the contrast here.

Picture credit for the doll – Funk out Yasmin after acetone cleaning by Saffy on Flickr.com, some rights reserved