For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
-Psalm 139:13-14
“The clothes make the man.”
“If you look good, you feel good.”
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”
“We can Photoshop that out.”
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The stark contrast between our culture and God’s design is amazing, isn’t it? We buy new clothes every season based on fashion trends. We dye our hair and invest untold millions in makeup and cosmetics. Some of us have even been caught Photoshopping acne off our children’s faces. We look in the mirror and we’re never happy. We’re either too fat or too thin, too young or too old, too light or too tan, too puny or too grotesque.
I don’t know many in this day and age who look in the mirror and say, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made! God, your works are wonderful!” To do so, would seem vain or narcissistic.
Of course, if we’re giving God glory and even thanking Him for the awesome way He has fashioned us, we aren’t vain at all. The way we commonly live our lives is of far greater vanity.
We place our appearance in our own hands. We deny God’s role in uniquely designing each of us and take it upon ourselves to fashion ourselves in the image of what the rest of the society calls “attractive.”
We pour untold amounts of time, energy and money into our appearance just to make ourselves cheap imitations of true beauty.
Well, anyhow, that’s my two-cents on this passage. Now, if you’ll excuse me— I need to go drop off my dry-cleaning and get my hair styled.