Created in God's Image

In today's world, everyone is concerned about outward appearance. Commercials constantly advertise beauty products, pornography is made pretty much public, and pressure to look like the "Cool crowd" is constantly pushed. But as Christians, what are we called to do? How do we respond to this worldly attitude? An important point I believe is that God has made us in His image. (Genesis 1:26) He has made us different than the animals. It is, in a sense, a very animal characteristic to focus on outward appearance. But God has made us not only physical creatures but spiritual creatures. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'" As you can see, God looks at the "who" of a person verses the "what" of a person. Think about someone you really love. Maybe your dad or mom, husband or wife, son or daughter, or good friend. Picture them in your mind. Do you think about how beautiful or ugly they are? Or do you think about what they've done, what their like, and what their personality is like? We must get beyond the superficialness of looking at people as sex objects, and start looking at them as humans created in God's image. True love will look at who someone is, no matter what they look like on the outside. Does that mean we should not care what so ever we look like? No. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." We should present our bodies is a pure way, not showing them off so as to present ourselves as objects, but to glorify God. Try to look at yourself and those around you as real humans who are God's children, and not as objects. Through doing this, the virtues of Purity and Chastity will come along much easier.