Women in nearly record numbers, we’re told, were drawn in envy to the picture of a well-known movie actress on the cover of a popular magazine. She had been portrayed as possessing flawless beauty.

But the editors of another magazine published a follow-up story telling about a photo company that had billed the first magazine $1,525 for their work on the picture “to clean up complexion, soften eye line, soften smile line, add color to lips, trim chin, . . . adjust color, and add hair on the top of the head.” So however beautiful she actually is, she needed something— quite a little it seems—to hide the blemishes that would quickly destroy her image of “ideal loveliness.”

What a picture of man’s spiritual condition! Every one of us is flawed when compared with the moral excellence of Christ (Rom. 3:23). No matter how good we may appear, we need more than a religious touchup to conceal our sins. We desperately need the soul-cleansing, atoning blood of Jesus Christ. When we trust Jesus as our Savior, God gives us His flawless righteousness. From then on, He works within us by His Spirit to conform us to His likeness.

Are we making the unblemished beauty of Christlike character the daily goal of our life?

  — Vernon C. Grounds