Ten Question Quiz

Over the past few days we’ve been talking about what true beauty really is. Today I want to know, which beauty have you been going for? Carolyn Mahaney has provided a ten-question quiz to help you determine the truth. Please spend some time with your mom or a close friend to go over them.

1. Do I spend more time in the day caring for my personal appearance than I do in Bible study, prayer, and worship?
2. Do I spend excessive money on clothes, hair, and makeup, or is it an amount that is God-honoring?
3. Do I want to lose weight to “feel better about myself,” or do I desire to be self-disciplined for the glory of God?
4. Am I on a quest for thinness to impress others, or do I seek to cultivate eating habits that honor God?
5. Do I exercise to try and maintain a good figure, or do I desire to strengthen my body for God’s service?
6. Is there anything about my appearance that I wish I could change, or am I grateful to God for the way He made me?
7. Am I jealous of the appearance of other girls, or am I truly glad when I observe girls who are physically more attractive than I?
8. Do I covet the wardrobe of others, or do I genuinely rejoice when other girls are able to afford and purchase new clothing?
9. When I attend an activity, do I sinfully compare myself with others, or do I ask God to show me whom to love and how to do it?
10. Do I ever dress immodestly or with the intent of drawing attention to myself, or do I always dress in a matter that pleases God? (We’ll talk about modesty next week)

If most of your answers were “yes” to more than half of the above questions than it is most likely that you’ve been sinfully craving physical beauty to get attention. Why not spend your time and energy on a beauty that will never fade? Cultivate a trust in God that will draw attention to the beauty of the gospel! God is always eager and willing to help us change! In the pursuit of true beauty, we need to each acknowledge God’s providence and receive with gratefulness the body and appearance He has given us! Are you trusting and thanking God for the body He has given to you (as a gift) for your good and His glory? We have been bought with a price…so let us glorify God through our bodies! (1 Cor. 6:20)