are you attractive?

When I was a little boy, my mom pasted these old newspaper ads to stained wood and hung them on the wall as antique decorations. They were food advertisements for women. I remember one particularly: FATTEN-U-FOOD! That’s right. It was food to make women fat. In the past, it was actually considered unattractive to be thin. Skinny women were passed over by men who wanted a more “substantial gal”. I remember the ads of those beautiful heavy models like it was yesterday.

By the way, who says what is attractive and what is unattractive anyway? Who says you have to weigh a certain weight, have a certain hair and skin color, etc.? Where do they make those rules? AND many times, what this world determines is attractive is shallow, possessing little or no significance. The way our world evaluates people is oppressive to most.

“So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” 2 Cor. 5:16-17

Fresh, attractive, influential, and magnetic people are what Jesus is making. People who don’t just look good-they are good! They make a difference in the world. What makes the Christ-follower attractive runs much deeper than the culture’s surface evaluations. Let’s continue a little further in the same passage.

“All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did. And God has given us the task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.” 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 (NLT)

In Christ I have found a way to be attractive as well as significant. In Him I am clothed fashionably and given access to the finest of fragrances. Also, as I abide in Him, my personality and attitude are fine tuned in such a way that I can at times be “irresistible”.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not taken with myself, but I do think God has given me an opportunity to reflect His image and His image is "at least" attractive.

Find out more this weekend. Hear the message, “Becoming Magnetic”.