A tribute to true beauty

Cal Thomas analyzes the Susan Boyle YouTube phenomenon and what it teaches us about our culture. Here's an excerpt:

Slowly, the gorgeous Amanda Holden rises to applaud and the contrast could not be starker. Two women are standing, one the incarnation of all we define as beautiful, the other exuding a depth of beauty that Holden and the entire audience wishes it possessed. The faux beauty is paying tribute to the reality.

You can read the whole thing here.

Proverbs puts it this way: "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised" (Prov. 31:30).

Are you pursuing a beauty that is only skin-deep? Do you invest more time attending to your body than attending to your soul? Do you assume whatever looks good or feels good must be beneficial? Are you chiefly concerned about the external appearance and frame of your body, your family, your church? Let us remember, "man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7)

Jesus Himself chose inner beauty above external beauty. "He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him" (Isaiah 53:2). Yet Christ was the perfect Son of God, having no spot or blemish in character. Because of this, He alone was qualified to pay our debt of sin and take our punishment upon the cross.