The Power of Beauty

Claire Black: Welcome to True Girl, a podcast for girls and their moms. Together we’ll explore God’s truth for us, one drive at a time. Who’s in the driver seat today? I bet it’s mom, and that’s good since she probably has a driver's license. 

This podcast exists to keep her in the driver’s seat as you navigate important conversations about being a girl who lives according to God’s truth. 

Today, we’re going to explore a girl’s special superpower. Did you know you have one? Today, we’ll tell you what it is and give you some ideas of how you should and should not use it.

True Girl is hosted by Dannah Gresh, author of 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters. Let’s get moving for season 1, episode 4 titled, “The Power of Beauty.” 

Here’s Dannah.

Dannah Gresh: Hey there, friends. Well, we made it to episode 4 of the True Girl podcast,season 1. I’m Staci Rudolph.

Staci Rudolph: Hold up. She is messing with y’all, I’m Staci, and I’m here with True Girl founder, and apparently jokester, Dannah Gresh. 

Dannah: Yup. I am trying to be silly like you. Alright, let’s start with a question, Staci. If you could have a superpower, any superpower in the entire world, what would it be?

Staci: Hmmm . . .

Dannah: Really? You have to think?

Staci: Oh, I like to take my time and give a real answer. Okay, if I had to pick one, it would be: I want to be invisible. 

Dannah: Invisible? 

Staci: Yeah.

Dannah: Why?

Staci: You know, so you could just kind of pop in and out and see what’s happening. I could just do my own thing and go under the radar. 

Dannah: Yeah. So you want to be a fly on the wall and spy on people?

Staci: Well, maybe not to spy on people.

Dannah: Yes, you do. 

Staci: Just a fly. How about you? Would you want to be invisible, kind of like me, so you could sneak up on your little brother?

Kid: Boo!

Staci: Or have a flame pop out of your thumb when you snap so you could start a campfire and eat s’mores?

Dannah: Oh my.

Staci: Or would you fly, so you could, well, fly? Hello, that’s cool.

Dannah: I know I have flying dreams sometimes. Aren’t they the best? Do you ever have those, Staci?

Staci: All the time.

Dannah: All the time. Superpower. Well, I’m a mom, Staci. Do you know what my superpower would be? I would want to be in two places at the same time. Or to be able to duplicate myself. That’s a superpower that moms need.

Well, guess what? You do have a superpower. Girls, we’re born with one, and today we’re going to explore it. We’re going to continue talking about the subject of beauty, after all, that’s what this season is all about. But today, we want to introduce you to the power of beauty. 

Have you ever noticed that in today’s advertising and art, there are a lot of women. I mean, someone thinks we girls are pretty fun to look at? You know what? I even saw an ad for men’s razors that used women’s faces to sell them. What is up with that?

Staci: The funny thing about advertisements is that researchers have actually attached little sensors to readers’ eyeballs. That sounds so creepy, doesn’t it?

Dannah: Yeah, it does, Staci.

Staci: I’m sorry. 

Dannah: No, it totally does. 

Staci: But they’ve attached sensors to readers’ eyeballs to figure out what will cause someone to spend more time looking at an ad. They’ve found that certain things influence the time that you spend looking at ads. That’s crazy isn’t it?

Dannah: Yeah, an example of that would be, if you use a certain font. You know the different styles of letters? This actually increases the time someone spends looking at an ad by like 2 or 3 percent. 

Another thing is if you lay the elements out, like the pictures and the logo in a certain way, it increases the time that someone spends looking at that ad just a little bit. Again, it’s probably only like 2–3 percent, a very small difference, but a difference nonetheless.

Staci: Thank you, Dannah, for that mini-marketing class. 

Dannah: You’re welcome. 

Staci: Now, here’s why we are saying all of this. If you really want to stop a reader, include a photo of a woman. It could be just the side of her face, or maybe just her eye that we include in an ad, but it will increase the time someone spends looking at that ad anywhere from 14–30 percent. 

Dannah: That’s a big difference. 

Staci: What is up with that?

Dannah: Yeah, big difference. This makes me excited, Staci, because God carefully crafted us. He made us to be His masterpieces. And so, it makes sense that the human eye would be drawn to and actually kind of applaud God’s handiwork by wanting to look at it. 

Now, we’ve seen in past episodes, some of the down sides to all the focus on physical beauty and ads. I have to say, it’s really unfortunate that a lot of today’s ads misuse the beauty of a woman; they include a lot of immodesty. But I think these researchers have caught onto a biblical truth. God did carefully craft us. He made us to be His masterpieces, so of course, the human eye would be drawn to it. Of course, the human eye would applaud God’s beautiful handiwork. 

Staci: That is really cool. But who knew we girls had the power of selling stuff? Like what is that superpower?

Dannah: Exactly. What is that superpower? I think the word for it is “captivate.”

Staci: Captivate? 

Dannah: Yup. It’s a word that means to attract or hold interest. And in those ads, a woman’s face attracts and holds interest. Now, listen for the word “captivate” in today’s power verse. It’s Proverbs 5:18–19. Let me read it. 

Rejoice in the wife of your youth, a loving doe, a graceful deer. May you be ever captivated by her love.

So, this specific verse is talking about the power of a wife’s beauty to captivate, that means to attract or hold the attention of, her husband. That’s pretty cool, right?

God is the one who made her captivating. One way that’s a good thing is to hold the attention of her husband. 

Staci: Yeah, that’s definitely a good thing, if you’re married. But what about if you’re not? Because, Dannah, I’m not. And I’m pretty sure our true girls aren’t married either. 

Dannah: I’m pretty sure of that too. Well, we don’t get the power of being captivating when we get married, Staci. We’re born with it, and it grows, and it becomes stronger. So girl, you have this power.

Staci: I guess I do.

Dannah: You sure do. But if I had the superpower of shooting lasers out of my eyes . . .

Staci: Ooo that’s creepy. 

Dannah: Oh, I know it is. If I use those lasers to hurt people, it would be super creepy. But what if I use those lasers to cut fishing lines off of whales who are stuck in the ocean? Or to cut through metal to rescue a baby out of a car crash safely.

Staci: That would be cool. 

Dannah: Yeah. Power is dangerous, but power can also be safe. It depends on who’s holding it.

Staci: Ooo this is deep. But I am picking up what you are putting down. It sounds like you are saying we have to be responsible with the power of beauty, with our ability to captivate. 

Dannah: Exactly. Here’s what the Bible has to say about a woman who does not use her power wisely. Let me read to you Proverbs 11:22, 

A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.

Staci: Ooo, now that’s not pretty at all. So this is saying that a woman who knows she’s got that power, that power to captivate, but she has no discretion, she doesn’t know how to use it, that’s she’s like a gold ring in a pig’s nose. It’s like, that just doesn’t belong there. 

Dannah: Yeah. Exactly. She’s not using that power well. 

Staci: And that’s why in a few places the Bible gives us girls instructions about how to present our beauty. Now, I gotta read this to you, it’s from 1 Timothy 2:9–10,

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

Dannah: That’s one of the verses that reminds us to just be careful with all that power, because we can and we should use it well.

Staci: Okay, okay I’ve got a question. 

Dannah: Alright. Shoot. 

Staci: Too soon, I’m still thinking about those lasers in your eyes. Don’t say “shoot.” But what if I’m a true girl who’s listening right now, and I don’t feel like my beauty is very powerful? Since I know what that feels like, can I tell you a little story?

Dannah: You bet. 

Staci: Now, there once was a great artist named Augustino, and one day he was given a huge block of marble, it was like eighteen feet high—about triple the height of your mom or dad. That’s pretty tall right? He sat down and began to sculpt. He imagined this beautiful, perfect, flawless masterpiece, when suddenly the most unthinkable thing occurred.

The great artist found a terrible flaw. That magnificent block of stone was rejected. So it sat gathering dust for over forty years until a young artist who was only twenty-six began to study it. He saw something in the marble’s flaws that the former artist could not see.

So, he began to carve. Now all the while there was a young boy nearby watching this great artist at work. He studied the man as he directed perfect blows to the hard surface at the marble. 

After thousands of blows, and days and weeks of studying and chiseling, the form of a handsome and serene man began to appear in the flawed chunk of marble. This little boy couldn’t help himself. One day, he just approached that artist and tugged at his cloak. He asked in amazement, “Sir, how did you know he was in there?”

Now, get this, that artist was actually the great Michelangelo. And that piece of marble he was working on, well it became the famous statue known as David. Michelangelo looked at that little boy and said, “I just took away everything that was not David.”

Dannah: That is such a perfect story for our topic today! Staci, I’m so glad you thought of it! True girl, I gotta tell you, that when God created you, He actually left some of the carving to be done during your growing years. 

Staci: Exactly. You girls are probably about to hit some of the most significant years of sculpting and growth. And yet, it’s easy to look at ourselves and see what we think are flaws. But I want to tell you, be patient. 

Your great Sculptor is not finished with you yet. He may need to remove a few things here and there. Things that aren’t you, but embrace the weeks and months and perhaps years while He is creating you to be captivating. 

Dannah: Ooo well, that’s a good word. I’ll tell you what, my heart needed that today. And maybe yours did too. I hope that as you’re listening, you can picture God chiseling away, and He is your great Sculptor. He has good plans for you. 

Staci: Yes. Well, friends, here is your True Girl Challenge. Sometime soon I want you and your mom to study a bit of art. Now, Dannah, where do you like to find art? 

Dannah: Well, there’s a lot of things. I enjoy going to an art museum, Staci. And even there we can see the power of a woman—used well and sometimes not so well. We want to encourage you to talk about that. 

What we really want in this challenge is for moms and daughters to see how women are being used in advertisements. That’s a kind of art, kind of like a modern type of art that we want you to look at. We want you to look for that captivating power of a woman’s beauty. 

Now, you can find this in like old school art, in an art museum, you can see it there too. Wherever you’d like to go, we just think it’s worth having a conversation to see how the beauty and the power of a woman’s beauty is being used to express something. 

Staci: So, we want to encourage you two to talk about that. Look for that captivating power of a woman’s beauty and give thanks to the Lord for His creativity. Talk about whether you are using that power well, the power to captivate. Decide if you need to make any changes about how you handle the power of your beauty. 

It really is a superpower.

Claire: Wow! Who knew that we had that superpower? Let’s use it carefully, true girl. To learn more about the power of true beauty, check out the book 8 Great Date for Moms and Daughters by Dannah Gresh. That’s where you can get some additional instructions as you explore some art together. Get a copy of 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters by visiting MyTrueGirl.com.

When you’re there, you’ll find other resources to bring moms and daughters closer to each other and closer to Jesus. 

True Girl is a production of Revive Our Hearts, calling women of all ages to bring the captivating power of their beauty under God’s control. 

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