A Pretty Pendulum: A Christian Perspective on the Pursuit of Physical Beauty

Filters on our phones smooth out our complexions, bodybuilders' workout routines promise to give us the perfect muscle definition, and commercials for anti-aging serums swear their products will make us look 10 years younger. We all care about our appearances. Some people more than others, but we cannot deny whose face in pictures we look at first. It’s ourselves. When we look at our bodies, we can recognize their beauty or focus on what we don’t like. And today, with modern smartphones and higher-quality cameras, we can see every single flaw in our faces. We could erase and Photoshop them out, but what do we truly accomplish by doing so?

There is a pendulum when it comes to physical beauty that can swing between two extremes. We can become obsessed with our beauty or dismiss it entirely and deem our bodies as simply fleshy vehicles. However, the Christian worldview lies at the center of the pendulum, where our bodies are recognized as something created with God-given beauty but are not impervious to the weight of a fallen world. Christians today know how strong the currents of culture can be. Ideas spread rapidly through media and technology, and it can be difficult to navigate what is true and what is a glamorously packaged lie. When considering appearances, Christians must be mindful of online opinions that swing from self-indulgence to self-deprecation. God commands his people of both genders and of any age to steward their bodies and treat them according to His ways as dictated to us through Scripture.

The first extreme that the pendulum swings to is the obsession with physical beauty. When we fixate on our appearances and how we look to others, we lose sight of our true identity, our worth, and our sense of connection with others. We crave words like “You’re so beautiful”, and when we have our bad hair days or a rogue pimple appears on our faces on an important day, we panic. And if we’re out hanging with our friends instead of enjoying the moment, we waste precious seconds looking in the mirror to ensure we still look the way we want to. We act like there are cameras constantly on us, and in many ways, there are. Social media and photos surround us, and these relentless images can cause our generation to experience the phenomenon of “constant body surveillance” (Vasquez, 2024), which is a habitual and persistent monitoring of one’s appearance that becomes a dominant part of daily life.

This extreme pursuit of physical beauty is a universal human experience. Women of the Victorian era wore restricting corsets that put pressure on their vital organs (Lincoln, 2024, p. 39). Women in China practiced footbinding, and for over a thousand years, feet longer than five inches were deemed “undesirable” (Foreman, 2015). These absurd actions taken in the pursuit of beauty are no different from the procedures people undergo today. There are surgeries to change your eye color that, if performed incorrectly, can lead to infection (Christensen, 2024), and other surgeries that can make someone taller, but not without breaking their legs first (Brada, 2020). The desire to appear pretty may look different in every era and among every people group, but it is still present.

Nevertheless, chasing the cultural standard of a perfect body is a losing battle, and this obsession, at the end of the pendulum, is further strengthened by the growing impact of technology. One individual remarked how this phenomenon is becoming even more intense and harmful to future generations who don’t know a life without screens. “Online, we can modify our bodies more easily than in reality. We use filters and editing to strip away our own humanity. We start to see ourselves as machines that need to be constantly updated and perfected, reaching for the unattainable” (Hoerman, 2024, 3:15-3:28). When all someone may see is an online photo, our response is to put our best foot forward and make a good first impression, to show our relevance, but in so doing, people subconsciously objectify themselves and others.

There’s a psychological idea called the “halo effect,” where our brains naturally make assumptions based on how someone looks (Nicolau et al., 2020), even though there is no obvious correlation between looking beautiful and having a kind heart. Beauty in Mind: The Effects of Physical Attractiveness on Psychological Well-Being and Distress, a research paper states, “Social psychologists have identified a ‘halo’ effect of physical attractiveness leading to inferences that the attractive are more competent, confident, and socially skilled than the unattractive” (Datta Gupta, et al., 2015, pg. 2). When we recognize that something is beautiful, we’ll often want to worship it. But we are forgetting the source of the beauty, the Creator, and only One worthy of worship.

As humans, we uniquely appreciate the beauty around us. It is instinctive, and research has shown how physical beauty matters to us. “Brain imaging studies reveal that brain reward pathways fire at the sight of attractive strangers’ faces (Datta Gupta, et al., 2015, pg. 2). Christians especially are called to appreciate the beauty of God. The Bible says, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (New International Version, 1973/2011, Psalm 27:4). Yet when we are overly focused on our own outer beauty, things come crashing down around ourselves. The quest to reach a man-made beauty standard instead of resting in God’s view of beauty is an endless pursuit with no real satisfaction. We become like Narcissus from Greek mythology, but instead of staring into a pool, we’re staring into our phone’s reflection. When our own beauty becomes our preoccupation, it inevitably leads to our downfall because there are always consequences to filling the God-shaped hole in our hearts with other things.

Then there’s the other side of the pendulum: where people fail to see any beauty in their bodies. Think back to those awkward middle school days when our skin was covered with acne, we had braces, and our faces were midway between baby fat and a growing jaw. It’s an almost universal experience where we look at an old picture and facepalm, saying, “Wow, I really looked like that,” or “Who let me out of the house looking like that?” Those are the days our bodies are changing and developing the most, and often the days we feel most self-conscious about them. These thoughts can haunt individuals beyond the teen years, and that feeling of being “ugly” can subconsciously become a part of our identity. It is easy to simplify things and say that it doesn’t matter since “it’s what’s inside that counts,” yet some people take that well-meaning statement to negative extremes. They imply that our bodies don’t matter, that our brains are only wearing meat suits, and that our appearance is only a meaningless costume.

Again, this is a long-standing phenomenon disguising itself as a new idea. This belief that the body is meaningless goes back to the early times of Plato and the ancient Greeks, who did not value the body in the same way Christians do. Rather, they saw them as a cage and a hindrance. This concept, I'm sure, sounds rather familiar. After all, this idea can still be seen in culture today. Members of the LGBTQ and transgender movement would endorse surgery so that their “inside gender” matches how they look on the outside. Associate Professor of the Department of Theology says, “In our culture, we have adopted the Greek view wholesale: we treat the body as though it does not really matter to whom we truly are as human persons or to what we do in or with our bodies; we view the body as unconnected to the 'essential me' inside it” (Mathews, 2001, p. 3). It is unhealthy and dangerous to make our bodies into an idol for ourselves, but the answer is not to neglect and dismiss our bodies as a shell with the only value being inside.

The Christian worldview is the balance between these two extremes and the middle of the pendulum. Our value is not in our appearances, but our appearances and bodies are not devoid of beauty. Our physical bodies were carefully fashioned into existence, and we are “artistically, purposefully, and personally made” (Allberry, 2021). I am an artistic person, and I love to give handmade gifts to friends and family. When I crochet, I go stitch by stitch, and I sew things together carefully so they do not come apart. God is no different in making our bodies. In the New International Version of the Bible (1973/2011), it says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well” (Psalm 139: 13-14). God made us with intention. Every hair, every freckle, and every muscle that helps us smile, He made them. Our bodies are a beautiful gift that He gave to us. We worry about our wrinkles or acne, and we don’t stop to think about how we have the ability to walk, run, breathe, and laugh. Our fingerprints look like tree rings, our eyes look like mini nebulas of color, and the lines on our palms resemble the veins of leaves. The human body is a living reflection of the divine creator, made in his likeness, and it has innate beauty.

When God was creating the earth, there was a climax in His creation of man. After each day, God declared that what He had made was good, but after God made man and woman, Genesis 1:31 (English Standard Version, 2001/2016) says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.” It was very good. No other being, animal, or plant was made directly in the image of God.

However, our image is not flawless or perfect by any means. As a result of the Fall and as a consequence of sin, our bodies are not what they ought to be, and our attitude toward our bodies is shifted. That longing for Eden applies to our hearts when it comes to physical appearance. Christian Lara Albano, who struggled with body image and acne throughout her life, says, “When Adam and Eve fell into sin, their spiritual beauty and physical beauty were marred, altering the course of human history” (Albano, 2024). The Fall has scarred our appearances and bodies, but they matter; they are not to be treated as idols nor obstacles. They are a gift, a powerful gift. We should view our bodies with gratitude.

Think about how Jesus came to earth, directly challenging the “Halo Effect.” It says, “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (New International Version, 1973/2001, Isaiah 53:2). He could’ve come down as a handsome, prestigious king; yet he humbled himself to an average-looking son of a carpenter. Image communicates status and social standing, and when Jesus came as an ordinary man, he was communicating a point to believers. He was lowering himself to a position because he came not only to save the nobles and high-ranking officials but to save the slaves, the prostitutes, and the tax collectors. It’s a reversal of the Halo Effect. He is beautiful because of what he does, not because of what he looks like.

We are no different. The saying “it’s what’s inside that counts” refers to the treasuring of inward character, not the degradation of outward appearance. The pendulum in our hearts needs to be aligned in the center. Rebecca McLaughlin, a Christian apologist, remarks that only in the Old Testament does it say something about appearances. The Bible states, “Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance” (English Standard Version, 2001/2016, Genesis 29:16-17). But God chose Leah to give birth to Judah, chosen as the lineage of the Messiah. Then in the New Testament, Mary of Bethany anoints Jesus’ feet. It says, “But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me’” (Matthew 26:10). Her actions are beautiful in the sight of the Lord. He cares about our hearts rather than any blemish on our faces.

Scripture is written with utmost intention from God to us, and it’s important to note how God addresses physical appearances. In Sam Allberry’s “What God Wants Us to Think About Our Bodies” (2021), he writes, “Jesus’s incarnation is the highest compliment the human body has ever been paid” (p. 20). When we think of our bodies as a beautiful and integral part of being human, our love for Jesus can reach a new depth. When Christ died for us and had his body broken and bleeding on the cross, He offered up all of Himself. He gave up everything, and He wants our everything. He doesn’t love us partially or only our hearts and what’s inside of us. He doesn’t cringe at our acne, He doesn’t feel disgusted by our weight. He looks at us and loves us. He loves and wants all the parts of us. We are to steward our bodies with care and love as they are gifts from the Lord. Since our bodies are a temple for God, we should not let ourselves lean too deeply into self-indulgent behaviors.

It’s important to understand and identify this pendulum in our everyday lives because it doesn’t always look the same to everyone. Take, for example, the divide between men and women. As a woman, I do not fully understand what it is like to be a man and experience appearance-related pressures, nor do I expect men to fully understand life as a woman. Thus, it is important to discuss these perspectives with one another in a manner that values what is true and biblical. It’s often said that men don’t care about their appearances, and in some ways, that’s true. They are not lining up at Ulta to buy blush palettes like women would; rather, men’s appearance-related worries manifest in different ways. Instead, they will discreetly assess both themselves and other men around them. Whether it’s greeting someone walking down the street, seeing a friend at school, or scoping out where to work out at the gym, they will size one another up. The overall physique is being judged. A study was done where magazines from 1967 to 1997 with pictures of the ideal male figure were compared with each other, and there was a noticeable difference in how the images seemed to progress. It said, “The John Wayne-type male idol of the past, a ‘sweaty, wind-bitten hero with a bit of a beer belly, rumpled clothing, and an air of absolute indifference to his appearance,’ is being replaced with the Marky Marks of the world, beefcake boys-smooth-skinned, cleanshaven, with tight, muscular bodies” (Law & Labre, 2002, p. 2).

This progression continues today, as seen in how modern-day men are depicted in the media. Only, instead of this idolization spreading through magazines, it’s spreading through Instagram posts, YouTube videos, advertisements, and even casual internet slang like “looksmaxxing, mewing, chopped, and glow-ups.” All of these factors help normalize hyperfocusing on appearances. Images of ourselves on social media become confused with our identity. Ben Hoerman speaks on this issue saying, “Lean, ripped, six-pack, V-shaped, low body fat, big arms, big chest, chiseled jaw, full hair, clean skin, tall, if you deviate from this Eurocentric beauty image, not only is your attractiveness questioned, but also your self worth” (2024, 4:05-4:18). If one does not look the part, can they be taken seriously? Men, just like women, can experience body insecurity, and even famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger says, “When I look in the mirror, I throw up. I never saw perfection. There was always something lacking. I could always find a million things wrong with myself, and that’s what got me back into the gym—because I started out with that mentality” (Feldkamp, 2021). This dangerous mindset can push men to an unhealthy extreme and swing far to either side of the pendulum.

Height, muscles, and leanness are all traits that seem to matter the most when it comes to men’s appearances, and there is, interestingly enough, a common thread between them all—the emphasis on strength and protection. These things are not fundamentally bad. God calls people to be strong protectors and leaders. It is our flawed human hearts that think that in order to be the ideal leader, one must look a certain way. Yet the ideal protector described in the Bible is someone who doesn’t rely on their own physical strength but on the Lord’s divine strength. “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (2001/2016, Corinthians 16:13). True strength isn’t in one's biceps.

God loves his people and calls them his children. He doesn’t look at people and think that they’re too skinny, too fat, too short, or any less of a man if they don’t have muscles and a strong jawline. He looks at everyone He made and sees a child that He made special. We do not have to prove our worth to Him. However, it is important to steward and train our bodies. Working out has numerous benefits for our well-being. Physical activity has been shown to reduce disease risk, support brain function, and even increase lifespan (CDC, 2025). Stewardship is an important habit to practice, but it should not lean too far into self-obsession. Cultural standards of attractiveness will change over time, and the internet will be rampant with ads trying to sell people products to make them look better and feel happier; Yet nothing can make one feel more satisfied with one’s body than the love of Christ.

Just as men face pressure to have a certain physique, women also experience cultural pressures to swing the pretty pendulum towards extremes. Growing up in a digital age, it is important for girls just to tune out all the beauty ads. Women have cared about their appearances for far longer than technology has been around, but with social media and the constant surrounding advertisements, this obsession is nurtured. Girls often place their self-worth in their beauty, but this is not what they’re called to do. Physical beauty is a gift, and our bodies need to be treated like a treasure, not an idol. One time, when I was younger, I saw my older sister in front of the bathroom mirror doing her makeup. She said to me that I should put on makeup when I understand that it’s not to hide anything wrong with me, and that it’s supposed to be for fun. She probably doesn’t even remember saying this to me, but it impacted me and how I view cosmetics. So now, before I go out, I do makeup if I feel like it. It matters more that I know my identity is in Christ and that my heart is adorned with love for the Lord.

The Bible does not ignore women’s hearts and our questions about understanding beauty. The apostle Peter wrote to the Gentile Christians,  “Do not let your adorning be external– the braiding of your hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear– but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (2001/2016, 1 Peter 3:3-4). People, even in ancient Rome, were concerned about their appearances. Even they needed reminders to check their priorities and make sure beauty didn’t matter more to them than God. Another Bible verse that communicates this idea clearly to Christians is 1 Timothy 2:9 (2001/2016). Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, “Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire.” Modesty and self-control are key to understanding when it is proper to adorn oneself. The verse is not condemning braided hair or outward appearances; rather, it cautions women to check their hearts and ensure they do not become prideful in their physical beauty. The lip gloss cannot be on a pedestal inside the heart that God should occupy.

The difference between stewardship and self-indulgence is evident in the recent phenomenon known as “Sephora kids.” These adolescent girls go to cosmetic shops to haphazardly test and buy products –some with anti-aging chemicals. The unfortunate results are that some of these girls accidentally cause “unnecessary damage [to their skin] such as rashes, allergic reactions and even skin burns” (Kavilanz, 2024). They do not need anti-aging serums at age 13, and this has become a concern for parents, dermatologists, and even other young adults. Dr. Penzi stated in an interview, “‘This age is when skin issues do tend to arise. It’s a lot of hormonal changes, maybe stress, maybe hygiene isn’t as good. This is when they start to figure out what their skin type is like.’ She continues, ‘It is certainly a good thing that these young individuals have awareness of their skin type, but they need to learn how to properly take care of it’” (Kalivanz, 2024). These “Sephora kids” are swinging closer towards the obsession side of the pendulum because their role models and influencers promote these products to them.

Children growing up in an age of technology have never known a way of viewing beauty without screens, where it is often perfectly manufactured. It is not inherently bad for adolescent girls to enjoy cosmetics. However, it is important to be cautious as a customer and as a Christian. Stewarding one’s body, understanding how to care for one’s skin, and using gentler moisturizers or cleansers are good practices. This is good stewardship and lies in the middle of the pendulum. However, teens should not place good practices above the desire to be beautiful in God’s eyes, which is caring for our inward beauty.  Albano writes:

A godly woman neither self-deprecates nor self-promotes. Instead, she uses her outward adornment to complement what’s inside of her: the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. A godly woman’s choice of clothing, hairstyle, and accessories is not to conform to worldly beauty standards but to honor and worship her Creator, who has fearfully and wonderfully made her.

Our hearts and skin layers need to be protected from harmful ideas and harsh chemicals. Appearances communicate something about oneself, and as Christians, we want to communicate how Christ shines in us and out of us.

Finally, there is the pendulum and perspective for those who feel the earthliness of their bodies the most. When discussing physical beauty, something important to consider is age. When we chase after beauty and appearances, it affects how we view aging and growing old. Our bodies change with time. We wrinkle, go gray, and our bodies change as they reach their final days. So, can focusing on how we look cause us to fear growing old? How many serums focus on retaining collagen, and how many celebrities have spent thousands on plastic surgery? Is getting old something to avoid at all costs? Aging forces one to think differently about one’s life, since these physical features are signs of one’s eventual passing and evidence of one’s limited nature.

Thus, many people try to retain their youthful appearance. Some use creams that target lines and wrinkles, and many people in the movie industry feel compelled to have plastic surgery procedures. These surgeries, in particular, do not even emphasize caution or the well-being of the patients. “In facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, particularly aesthetic facial plastic surgery, patient satisfaction remains the yardstick by which a successful surgical outcome is measured…if the patients themselves are not pleased, then the intervention cannot totally be considered a success” (Alsaraf, 2000, pg. 192). Deciding one’s surgical success based on happiness can be dangerous because it doesn’t warn or stop people who have become dangerously fixated on retaining a perfect body.

The loss of one’s youthful physical beauty is treated as the worst-case scenario. A study was conducted in which older women were asked to explain their perspective on the ageism taking place in society. “Youth is more attractive … young people are where there’s fashion. Young people are where there’s fun. I guess it’s important for anybody who is not young to think they should either be young, or they don’t count. If you put it into a sentence – be young or you’re not counted” (Clarke & Griffin, 2008). This alienation and judgment based on one’s physical beauty is harmful towards older generations, and the pendulum continues to swing towards a frantic obsession with being forever young. The exclusivity of this mindset affects how both old people view themselves and how they are treated.

This battle against time is not only a losing one but also a battle based on skewed perception. Today, because of advancements in technology and anti-aging methods, it is harder for younger generations to understand the normalcy of aging. When all one sees online and on screens are people with clear, perfectly plump skin and faint wrinkles at age 50, it sets an unrealistic expectation. We create for ourselves a beauty standard that is unattainable. Instead of fighting for one’s earthly beauty, one must understand what it means to remain at the center of the pendulum. This involves neither scrambling to retain one’s youthful beauty nor disregarding one’s body as useless and expired. When considering the Christian perspective, an aged appearance is described as a gift. It says in Proverbs, “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.” (2001/2016, Proverbs 16:31). To look old is not something to hide, but rather to embrace with dignity. People are no less in the eyes of God when growing old. I am just a senior in high school with my whole life ahead of me. I do not know what I will be like when I am in my seventies, but I hope that God will be using me to do the beautiful works intended for His glory, gray hairs and all.

Rather than viewing our earthliness as an obstacle, it should be seen as a sign of hope. It is hard to accept our physical appearances sometimes, but when we are old and wrinkly and frail, we can still shine with the glory of Christ. Consider how God uses the old woman Sarah in the Bible. Though she laughed at the idea of God’s plans for her, He blessed her and Abraham with a child. It says, “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised” (Hebrews 11:11). Though we may be limited, God's power is not. We do not cease to be created in His image when we grow old, and we do not cease to be instruments for his plans.

Sometimes one’s limitation is exactly what should prompt one to look to Christ, who is unlimited. Forever looking back and envying our past appearances isn’t the way Christians are called to live. Sam Allberry wrote in his book, “The signs of aging are no longer a threat but a promise. Gray hair and deepening lines on my face don’t need to speak to me of a past I can’t recover, but of a future I can barely conceive. The real glory days are not behind but ahead” (2021, pg. 185). Our best days lie in front of us with God in heaven and not behind us. Sometimes we can become too attached to this world, to its standards, its way of living, and the brokenness of it all. Yet through putting our faith in Jesus and setting our minds on Him, we gain a divine perspective on how precious life is. Our appearances are fleeting, and we must have open hands before God, not gripping tightly to our earthly beauty, nor discarding it forever.

Our bodies do not cease to be created in God’s image when we reach the end of our lives. While we remain on earth, we are called to steward all of creation, including our own physical bodies. We must be careful today not to confuse cultural beauty standards with the true standard set by Christ. The pendulum within our hearts cannot swing too far to either extreme. When we know that our bodies are artistically and intricately made gifts from God, we have a solid foundation in our identity. They are gifts not to be turned into idols, but rather gifts that should incline us to an appreciation for the gift-giver. It is easy to lose sight of what is true in the seas of opinions and marketing on social media. Companies and influencers will explain how their products or their routines will help you achieve your perfect body. The pursuit of physical beauty is a fight for our hearts. There’s nothing wrong with loving pink tubes of lipgloss, working to get that six-pack, or using some hair dye to hide some gray hairs, but his requires having modesty and propriety in mind. It is good to appreciate beauty. However, there is something wrong with putting these things on high pedestals in a position where only God should reside.

Men and women of all ages can struggle with the desire to have the perfect body in different ways. Yet that search for a perfect body leads us nowhere. The perfect body isn’t found on this side of the world. It's found in hea It is easy to lose sight of what is true in the seas of opinions and marketing on social media. Companies and influencers will explain how their products or their routines will help you achieve your perfect body. The pursuit of physical beauty is a fight for our hearts. There’s nothing wrong with loving pink tubes of lipgloss, working to get that six-pack, or using some hair dye to hide some gray hairs, but his requires having modesty and propriety in mind. It is good to appreciate beauty. However, there is something wrong with putting these things on high pedestals in a position where only God should reside.

Men and women of all ages can struggle with the desire to have the perfect body in different ways. Yet that search for a perfect body leads us nowhere. The perfect body isn’t found on this side of the world. It's found in heaven. God promises to redeem our bodies, and Christian writer C.S. Lewis says the following:

These small and perishable bodies we now have were given to us as ponies are given to schoolboys. We must learn to manage: not that we may some day be free of horses altogether, but that some day we may ride bare-back, confident and rejoicing, those greater mounts, those winged, shining and world-shaking horses which perhaps even now expect us with impatience, pawing and snorting in the King’s stables. (2001)

Our bodies are imperfect, just like everything else on earth. Yet they are created in love and are our responsibility to steward. Physical beauty is a gift, not nothing nor everything. When we abide in Him, the pretty pendulum in our hearts is still, and we find rest.ven. God promises to redeem our bodies, and Christian writer C.S. Lewis says the following:

These small and perishable bodies we now have were given to us as ponies are given to schoolboys. We must learn to manage: not that we may some day be free of horses altogether, but that some day we may ride bare-back, confident and rejoicing, those greater mounts, those winged, shining and world-shaking horses which perhaps even now expect us with impatience, pawing and snorting in the King’s stables. (2001)

Our bodies are imperfect, just like everything else on earth. Yet they are created in love and are our responsibility to steward. Physical beauty is a gift, not nothing nor everything. When we abide in Him, the pretty pendulum in our hearts is still, and we find rest.

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