16 Nov, 2009

I'm Better Looking Than You

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are among the ugliest people in the world, according to a dating website that says it only allows "beautiful people" to join. Fewer than one in eight British men and just three in 20 women who have applied to BeautifulPeople.com have been accepted, an emailed statement from the website showed. Existing members of the "elite dating site" rate how attractive potential members are over a 48 hour period, after applicants upload a recent photo and personal profile.

Swedish men have proved the most successful, with 65 percent being accepted, while Norwegian women are considered the most beautiful with 76 percent accepted, the website said.

The way that BeautifulPeople.com accepts new members is simple. A potential member applies with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them, the site said. Options are: "Yes definitely," "Hmm yes, O.K," "Hmm no, not really" and "No definitely not." The site was founded in 2002 in Denmark and went live across the globe last month. Since then, the site has rejected nearly 1.8 million people from 190 countries, admitting just 360,000 new members.

"I would say Britain is stumbling because they don't spend as much time polishing up their appearance and they are letting themselves down on physical fitness," Beautiful People managing director Greg Hodge said. "Next to Brazilian and Scandinavian beauties, British people just aren't as toned or glamorous."

Only the male Russian and Polish applicants fared worse than British men, although Russian women had a 44 percent acceptance rate. Polish women did not appear in the table.

German applicants were slated for offering up unflattering photographs, which may have hindered their acceptance rates at 15 percent for men and 13 percent for women, the lowest rate in their category. "German men and women aren't faring well, but they are submitting stern images, they need to soften up," Hodge said.

Story and photo taken from: reuters.com.

Galatians 6:3,4 (NIV)

If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else.

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

I have been going through a really tough time lately. God has been exposing many of my weaknesses and showing me how superficial I can really be. One of the areas of concern is constantly comparing myself to others. He's better looking, smarter, more confident, etc... Have you ever done that? My guess is you have.

What immediately comes to my mind is how I often don't value the same things God values. God sees beauty in all of us. He delights in those He has called to life in Christ. Sadly, I go from day to day not really believing this. My highest calling in this world is to love God with all my heart. More often than not, I value too much what other people think and don't delight in God.

Today's story focuses on outward beauty. Our society is infatuated with outward beauty. But God looks at our heart. He finds beauty in all of us and delights in us. By comparing ourselves to others we can dishonor what God thinks of us. The heart that has been transformed by God holds unfading beauty! Wow! We all want have unfading beauty! The problem often lies in that we don't look at ourselves and others through God's eyes. The beauty is in God delighting in us and hoping that we can delight in Him.

This is my prayer for you and I today.

  • What is your take on beauty? Do you only look on the outside or do you also look on the inside?
  • How might your understanding of God delighting in you affect your view of self and others?
  • When confronted with the constant comparing of yourself to others recall how God delights in you.
  • When hanging out with friends this week focus on their inward beauty. This will take some work. We all love outward beauty but really look for qualities such as patience, kindness, perseverance, trustworthiness, etc... others.
  • Compliment them on their inward beauty!
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