"I Am Pretty Or Ugly" - Really?

In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul writes, beginning in verse 21:...if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Some insight into our identity can be found in Colossians chapter 3...we're told in verse 10 that we have...put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

It's really amazing and perplexing what goes viral on the Internet.   For instance, a video made by a young girl posing the question, "Am I pretty or ugly?" has attracted more than 4 million hits.   In fact, this is apparently a trend - teenage and tweenage girls going online, making videos of themselves, wanting to know if random people in cyberspace think they are physically attractive or not.

According to an ABC News piece,

Dr. Joshua Klapow, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, says that teens have always had a fervent desire to be accepted.

"This is just an extreme version of something that's very normal," Klapow said, adding, "Another piece that's normal is impulsivity. Give them a medium that is so easily accessible and so potent, you get the problem we're seeing."

So, while we as humans are searching for affirmation, it's important that we have a Christ-centered perspective of acceptance and what constitutes true beauty.   We know this:  Jesus accepts us unconditionally; God made us the way we are, and He loves us no matter what.   We also know that true beauty proceeds out of the heart, not from physical adornment.   Having a healthy sense of worth in Christ and knowing who we are in Him can bring us an incredible sense of affirmation.    So the right question is not, "Am I ugly?" but "What is my true identity - in Christ?"