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“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” – Romans 12:9-10
Mirror, mirror on the wall… The global cosmetic industry is worth over $570 billion. The revenue of the global apparel market was calculated to amount to some $1.5 trillion in 2021. The global fashion industry employs more than 300 million people. The global weight management market reached a value of $470 Billion in 2021. The global cosmetic surgery market size was valued at $67.3 billion in 2021 The numbers paint a picture of a people obsessed with how we look, and we are increasingly aware that this obsession has a disconcerting impact on our mental health. A rising concern in our culture is the prevalence, particularly among youth, of a condition called body dysmorphic disorder which is described as a mental health condition where a person spends a disconcerting amount of time worrying about flaws in their appearance, even though these supposed flaws are very often unnoticeable to others. The fear is that if our bodies don’t match a particular standard (a standard often set by the fashion, cosmetic, and fitness industries), that we will not be considered worthy of approval or love.
However, as the noted German social psychologist, Eric Fromm, observed, “People are concerned with the question of whether they are attractive while they forget that the essence of attractiveness is their own capacity to love,” in much the same way that demonstrating an interest in others makes one interesting. Fromm says, “One is not loved accidentally; one’s own power to love produces love.” What is of first importance is not what we wear or what the mirror reveals, but what our spirit reveals, qualities that cannot be bought, things like kindness, joy, generosity, the capacity to listen, a compassionate heart, and a merciful disposition.
Hey, I’ll admit that I can become a bit too excited about a new pair of shoes, but if I assume that is what will make me attractive, I lose before I even begin. In a way, we discover our worth, the worth God sees in us, in witnessing to this same worth in others. Let love be genuine … outdo one another in showing honor.
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