Beauty is in the
eyes of the beholder or at least that is what the old saying says. Amanda Peet
argues that “Beauty is only skin deep. If you go after someone just because
she’s beautiful but don’t have anything to talk about, it’s going to get boring
fast. You want to look beyond the surface and see if you can have fun or if you
have anything in common with this person.” Is beauty something that is “only
skin deep”? Or is Mrs. Peet correct in saying that “You want to look beyond the
surface”?
As a child, I
always had a “love” for girls. I repeatedly went after girl after girl between
the ages of 3 to 12 or 13. As the typical guy, I tried to show off my strength
or something that I was good at to get a girl to like me, but over and over
again I met defeat. Girls were more often disgusted or annoyed than impressed
by what I did. Furthermore, around the age of 11, the Lord spoke to my heart
and said that He wanted me to stop chasing the girls and seek Him. Yet, I
spurned the prompting and responded that “I wasn’t ready yet.”
I continued
going after the pretty face that enamored me the most. But this time, there was
a more tragic ending. For two years I had a crush on this one girl and it was
made known by a friend. I developed a closer friendship with this girl than I
had with any other: we talked, joked, and sat by each other. This time;
however, her father got involved. After I wrote a note expressing my feelings
about her, she got very upset and her dad talked to my dad. In short, I ended
up having an uncomfortable talk with my father about the situation all because
I didn’t listen to God’s warnings over a year and a half prior to this talk.
I had some things
in common with the girls I pursued. We had things to talk about and I had
something in common with every one of them, but it was just heart break after
heart break. If beauty is only skin deep that is a disheartening reality. From
my own experience with the ladies, I have come to believe that true beauty is not how I perceive
someone or how well I know them, but is a
pure heart toward God. The Lord has transformed my mind and heart from
seeking after “the ladies” to waiting for one that has beautiful character. If
a woman is not beautiful on the inside, but a monster, will she be someone to
pursue?
In short, Mrs.
Peet’s argument is very well grounded; however, it still seems to lack emphasis
about the importance of character. Nonetheless, when she says, “You want to look beyond the surface and
see….” she touches on an important principle. I only pursued young women
because I liked the way they looked. Their physical features were my only
attraction criteria and it in resulted in painful heartbreaks. Beauty is not
about the looks only, there is much more involved, namely, the condition of
their heart.
