Beauty May Be Only Skin Deep

EVE, the first and only woman created by God, was likely the most beautiful woman who ever lived. But she and her husband, Adam, rebelled against Jehovah. So Eve lost her close relationship with God and shared in bringing a terrible tragedy on the human race. Afterward, she was doubtless still beautiful, but her beauty was only skin deep.

Beauty is ultimately a gift of God, and some have inherited more of it than others. Some wish they were more beautiful​—or handsome—​than they are, and many spend a lot of time and money making the most of whatever good looks they possess. But as Eve’s example shows, beauty alone is worthless in the long run unless it is accompanied by other qualities. What other qualities? An experience back in the days of King Solomon helps us to answer that.

Something More Than Beauty

The Bible book Song of Solomon tells of a beautiful young country girl, a Shulammite, who was in love with a local shepherd boy. Her beauty attracted the attention of the king, and he had her brought to Jerusalem in hopes of making her his wife. What an opportunity for a young woman! There, she could exploit her good looks and gain a position of wealth, power, and influence in the kingdom. But the young girl resolutely spurned the flattering advances of the king. She turned her back on the glitter and wealth of Jerusalem and remained faithful to her shepherd boy. In her case, beauty was a lot more than skin deep. She was not shallow, opportunistic, or greedy. Rather, she had an inner beauty that her ancestress Eve lacked.​—Song of Solomon 1:15; 4:1; 8:4, 6, 10.

The Snares of Physical Beauty

Physical beauty, while desirable, can lead to problems that inner beauty never provokes. Almost 4,000 years ago, for example, the patriarch Jacob had a daughter named Dinah who was doubtless very pretty. When she unwisely spent time fellowshipping with “the daughters of the land,” a young man named Shechem was so attracted to her that he violated her.​—Genesis 34:1, 2.

Additionally, external good looks, if not matched by an inner beauty, can inflate their possessor’s self-evaluation. King David had a son named Absalom, of whom we read: “Compared with Absalom there proved to be no man so beautiful in all Israel as to be praised so much.” (2 Samuel 14:25) But Absalom’s physical beauty masked an inner ugliness: He was vain, ambitious, and ruthless. The young man artfully used his personal charm to build a following in Israel and then conspired against his royal father. Eventually he was killed but not before this very handsome man had plunged the kingdom into civil war.

Masculine Beauty

As the case of Absalom shows, the Bible speaks of men as well as of women as being beautiful. An example of a man who was not ensnared by his masculine beauty was Joseph, the younger half brother of Dinah. (Genesis 30:20-24) When he was a young man, Joseph’s brothers out of jealousy sold him as a slave to be carried off to Egypt. There, he was bought by a military officer named Potiphar, and because of being honest and diligent, he came to be overseer of Potiphar’s household. Meantime, “Joseph grew to be beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.”​—Genesis 39:6.

Potiphar’s wife developed a passion for Joseph and shamelessly tried to seduce him. But the young man showed that he had inner beauty as well as physical attractiveness. He refused to sin against his master, Potiphar, and ran from the woman. As a result, he was clapped into jail. Why? The disappointed wife of Potiphar lyingly accused him of having tried to violate her! Even this bitter experience did not sour Joseph’s disposition, however, and his excellent example under extreme difficulty has encouraged righthearted people ever since.

As these examples show, inner beauty​—a beauty of personality especially when it is based on faith in God—​is far more important than physical good looks. Young people contemplating marriage need to be aware of this. Employers seeking workers should remember it. And all of us ought to bear in mind that whether we have been blessed with physical beauty or not, we can develop this far more important inner beauty. But what does this consist of? And how can we develop it? We will discuss this in the following article.

True Beauty​—You Can Develop It

THE Bible has counsel for both men and women in the matter of good looks. For men, it notes: “The beauty of young men is their power.” (Proverbs 20:29) Yes, the energy and vitality of young men can be very appealing. But what happens when that youthful vigor wanes? The Bible proverb says: “Gray-headedness is a crown of beauty when it is found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31) Righteousness is a facet of inner beauty. If a young man cultivates it, it will still be there when he loses that attractive vigor of youth.

Regarding women the Bible says: “Charm may be false, and prettiness may be vain; but the woman that fears Jehovah is the one that procures praise for herself.” (Proverbs 31:30) A pretty, charming young woman is a delightful companion. But what if there are hypocrisy and selfish vanity lurking behind the physical charm? Then the beauty is only skin deep, and it hides an inner ugliness. When the prettiness fades, what will be left? How much better if the good looks are matched by an unfading inner beauty, rooted in a ‘fear of Jehovah’!

A Change of Personality

Is it possible to develop this inner beauty? Yes. In fact, for Christians, it is a must. God values true beauty. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Revised Standard Version) He will not accept the worship of those whose conduct betrays unlovely inner qualities.

The apostle Paul’s words to the Colossians imply the need to cultivate an inner beauty. First, he admonishes: “Put them all away from you, wrath, anger, badness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth. Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices.” Yes, anyone who practices such ugly things is repulsive to God​—and to right-thinking humans. Then, Paul continues: “Clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.” (Colossians 3:8-10) We must ‘put on’ a way of thinking and feeling that conforms to God’s will. What characterizes this “new personality”?

Christian Qualities

The Bible lists many beautiful qualities that go to make it up. But the basis for this inner beauty is described in Jesus’ words: “‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39) Love of God leads us to want to be the kind of person that pleases him. Such love moves us to speak about him to others, helping them, in turn, to get to know their Creator.​—Isaiah 52:7.

Some other qualities that go to make up the new personality are described by the apostle Paul: “Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”​—Galatians 5:22, 23.

In addition, the Bible says specifically to husbands: “A husband is head of his wife as the Christ also is head of the congregation . . . Husbands, continue loving your wives, just as the Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it.” (Ephesians 5:23, 25) And to wives, the Bible says: “Let wives be in subjection to their husbands as to the Lord . . . The wife should have deep respect for her husband.” (Ephesians 5:22, 33) How attractive family life is when the husband fulfills his responsibilities in a loving, unselfish, and patient manner! And how much easier it is for the man to fulfill his proper role when the wife reveals her inner beauty by lovingly supporting him and not being competitive or overly critical. Family life under such conditions can be truly delightful.

The examples cited in the previous article showed some of these qualities in action. The Shulammite girl demonstrated constancy and a deep love for her shepherd boy when she refused to abandon him for the glitter of Solomon’s court. Joseph showed an innate goodness when he refused to sin against his master, Potiphar. He also demonstrated self-control when he fled rather than be seduced by Potiphar’s wife. And he exemplified mildness, peace, and long-suffering when he refused to let the many adverse events in his life embitter him.

Beauty in an Ugly World

Are such beautiful qualities practical today? Many think not. Rather, they react to the self-seeking, grasping world in which they live by developing a hard surface. They feel that to survive they have to be ruthless, ambitious, putting number one first and grasping for all they can get.

In contrast, the Bible encourages: ‘Do nothing out of contentiousness or out of egotism, but with lowliness of mind consider that the others are superior to you, keeping an eye, not in personal interest upon just your own matters, but also in personal interest upon those of the others.’ (Philippians 2:3, 4) It is because mankind in general does not follow this fine counsel that human society is deteriorating so badly.

Additionally, in the present world, a person’s success is measured by money or position. A rich man is considered to be a successful man. However, as far as real values are concerned, it is completely unimportant whether someone is rich or poor. Indeed, wealth has its dangers. The Bible warns: “Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires.” It adds: “The love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things.”​—1 Timothy 6:9, 10.

Of course, people who are selfish, grasping, materialistic, and ruthless often enjoy temporary “success” today. But it is not real success, since the cost of such an ugly way of living​—personal unpopularity, wrecked marriages, ill health, and general frustration—​is very high. Man was made in the image of God, but when he rebels so violently against the qualities God originally implanted in him, he can never achieve personal happiness.​—Genesis 1:27.

Developing the Inner Beauty

How can we, then, resist the bad influence of this world and develop noble, godly qualities? When Paul listed the qualities of ‘love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, and self-control,’ he called them “the fruitage of the spirit.” (Galatians 5:22, 23) So God’s spirit is necessary if we are to develop these beautiful inner qualities.

How? Well, studying the Bible, which was inspired by means of God’s spirit, will help us to identify these qualities and strengthen our desire to cultivate them. (2 Timothy 3:16) Jehovah’s Witnesses are always happy to help in such a project, since they view it as part of their ministry to help people to study the Bible. Honest self-examination will enable us to see where we fall short, and we can pray for the help of God’s spirit in these areas. Associating with fellow worshipers of God will give the support of our peers that we need, and here, too, God’s spirit helps because, as Jesus said, “where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst.”​—Matthew 18:20.

A Beautiful World Ahead

Naturally, none of us will completely overcome our imperfections, but if we strive to develop this inner beauty, God will bless our efforts. And he will reward us in a wonderful way. The Bible records for us God’s purpose soon to usher in a new system of things that will be completely different from the present one. In it, “the righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.” (Psalm 37:29) Jesus himself said: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.”​—Matthew 5:5.

At that time, the unsightly competitiveness and selfishness of this system of things will be replaced by a beautiful tranquillity and serenity. “They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) Indeed, God “will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”​—Revelation 21:4.

Do such conditions sound appealing? They are possible only because the earth’s inhabitants then will possess an inner beauty based on love of God and of neighbor. And God has promised that those who serve him now, cultivating “the new personality” and striving hard to follow his standards, will see the realization of that promise. Good looks, physical beauty, could never bring such blessings. What good reason, then, to develop that richer, longer-lasting inner beauty that is so pleasing to right-thinking humans and to God himself!

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Physically attractive people should avoid being selfish and manipulative. Rather, they should cultivate the inner beauty that pleases God