If you were an alien anthropologist who came to America to study our values, you would surely conclude that physical beauty, especially in women, is one of the most important things to us. For most of our lives, we’ve heard people deny this by saying, “Beauty is only skin deep,” or, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” or, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” In addition, for many of us, there is something repulsive about a teenage girl spending hours on end perusing beauty magazines in order to practice the least important aspect of her being. But is this correct, or do our loud protests actually reveal too much? Is it acceptable to judge a person by beauty? How about to marry a person for beauty? Is a wife morally obligated to remain as beautiful as she can be to her husband? A husband to his wife? Does God care about beauty?

Bible References: Gen 2:9, Gen 6:2, Gen 12:11, Gen 24:15-16, Gen 29:17, Gen 39:6, Deut 21:10-14, 1 Sam 16:12-13, 1 Sam 25:3, 2 Sam 11:2-3, 2 Sam 13:1, 2 Sam 14:25, 1 Kings 1:3-4, Esther 1:11, Esther 2:1-17, Job 42:15, Psalm 50:1-2, Psalm 96:6, Psalm 149:4, Prov 6:25-26, Prov 11:22, Prov 20:29, Prov 31:30, Song 4-6, Is 28:1, Is 44:13, Ezek 16:23-25, Hosea 14:1-6, Matt 5:3-12, Matt 6:28-30, Matt 23:27, Acts 3:2-10, Rom 10:15, 1 Tim 2:9-10, 1 Peter 3:3-4

Links on beauty:
Physical attractiveness by Wikipedia
Spirituality + Beauty = Desirability by Christianity Today
The beauty of a Christian woman by Prca.org
Short story - Harrison Bergerson by Kurt Vonnegut