The news this week carried an article by Janine Puhak titled "Woman Crowned World's 'Most Beautiful' Says She Didn't Even Know She Was In The Running".
It began by declaring that a young woman from Israel is the model of humility. Why? Because even though she was recently crowned the "most beautiful" in the world, she said she had no idea she was being considered for this international prize. The article goes on to state that Yael Shelbia, 19, alleged the honor of snagging the top spot on TC Candler's latest "100 Most Beautiful Faces of the Year" list came as a total shock to her.
"I was very surprised, I didn't even know I was participating in this contest," the teenager is reputed to have told The Sun Newspaper. "It's very exciting and flattering. I don't know why they chose me, I think beauty is so individual and all women are beautiful."
The blue-eyed beauty, who grew up in a large Orthodox Jewish family in northern Israel, and later moved to Tel Aviv to chase her dreams of becoming a model, said she has gained 200,000 new followers on Instagram since topping the list.
Here, they can find many pictures of her modeling work and daily life, as well as pictures of her in military uniform. Kike all Israeli young people, she completed mandatory military service with a stint in the Israeli Air Force.
"It is such an honor for me to serve my country, I have lots of responsibilities as an IDF soldier and public figure," Shelbia explained. "It was really important for me to try and combine work and the service."
While grateful for the recognition, Shelbia offered a beauty tip that most anyone can relate to, stating that she believes true grace always comes from within. "I think what makes a person beautiful is to be kind, humble and most of all – positive," suggested. "When you are good, it is really shown in your eyes and eyes never lie."
Wow! Just imagine being chosen as "the most beautiful person" and not even knowing you were in the contest! As I read this article, I could not help but remember an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. The 16th episode of the first season, first broadcast way back on January 23, 1961 and titled "The Beauty Contest", saw Sheriff Andy being tasked with selecting Mayberry’s most beautiful female.
To summarize the plot, a reluctant sheriff Taylor is put on the spot as the Mayberry Town Council decides to add a "Miss Mayberry" beauty pageant to the regular Founder's Day agenda, picking him as the one and only Judge. Suffice it to say that, not only does everyone from Opie to Mayor Pike try to influence Andy’s vote, but Aunt Bee then enters Ellie Walker – who despite having the obvious inside track at winning, promptly promises never speak to Andy again if he selects her.
So what does Andy do? Spoiler alert here… He selects the humble and unassuming Ms. Bishop, an older lady who not only did not enter the pageant or in any way compel Andy to choose someone she knew, but worked tirelessly behind the scenes in order to see to it that the pageant came off without a hitch!
In the end, Ms. Bishop, the citizens of Mayberry, and the entire viewing audience are all equally stunned by his selection, as the winner was not even aware she was in the contest to begin with!
There is, of course, more than one spiritual point to all of this. To begin with, beauty is more than skin deep! As the Old Testament Book of Proverbs affirms, a really beautiful woman has many more qualities than an hour-glass figure and a pretty face. Just read Proverbs 31:10-31 and see what the Bible has to say about a truly lovely lady!
Related to this, and perhaps even more significant, is a second issue. And that is this... It may very well be that those who are judged the most beautiful in God’s eyes are very often those who are not really seeking the attention, the glory, and/or honor of any such recognition to begin with!
Jesus alluded to this in His famed “Sermon on the Mount” (in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 1-6), when He said:
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The choice Jesus presents here is clear. Like the citizens of Mayberry, we can choose to toot our own proverbial horn as we finagle our way to the top, or we can choose to just do what is right with no ulterior motive and trust God to do as He sees fit.
And Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46, shows us just how God "sees fit" to do things…
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Do you desire to be seen as beautiful in God’s eyes? Then why not stop all the posturing and consider what it takes in God’s eyes to be truly seen as such?
And above all, remember that, in the end, a crown awaits those who do – but only those who do!
ARTICLE SOURCE:
Janine Puhak, an editor for Fox News Lifestyle, wrote the article. It can be found at: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/worlds-most-beautiful-woman-running-list. Apparently, the TC Candler list of "100 Most Beautiful Faces" has been published annually by independent film critic TC Candler since 1990. Candler's site, www.IndependentCritics.com, has also been publishing a "Most Handsome Faces" list since 2013.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/niv/proverbs/31.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/7.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/25.htm.
It began by declaring that a young woman from Israel is the model of humility. Why? Because even though she was recently crowned the "most beautiful" in the world, she said she had no idea she was being considered for this international prize. The article goes on to state that Yael Shelbia, 19, alleged the honor of snagging the top spot on TC Candler's latest "100 Most Beautiful Faces of the Year" list came as a total shock to her.
"I was very surprised, I didn't even know I was participating in this contest," the teenager is reputed to have told The Sun Newspaper. "It's very exciting and flattering. I don't know why they chose me, I think beauty is so individual and all women are beautiful."
The blue-eyed beauty, who grew up in a large Orthodox Jewish family in northern Israel, and later moved to Tel Aviv to chase her dreams of becoming a model, said she has gained 200,000 new followers on Instagram since topping the list.
Here, they can find many pictures of her modeling work and daily life, as well as pictures of her in military uniform. Kike all Israeli young people, she completed mandatory military service with a stint in the Israeli Air Force.
"It is such an honor for me to serve my country, I have lots of responsibilities as an IDF soldier and public figure," Shelbia explained. "It was really important for me to try and combine work and the service."
While grateful for the recognition, Shelbia offered a beauty tip that most anyone can relate to, stating that she believes true grace always comes from within. "I think what makes a person beautiful is to be kind, humble and most of all – positive," suggested. "When you are good, it is really shown in your eyes and eyes never lie."
Wow! Just imagine being chosen as "the most beautiful person" and not even knowing you were in the contest! As I read this article, I could not help but remember an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. The 16th episode of the first season, first broadcast way back on January 23, 1961 and titled "The Beauty Contest", saw Sheriff Andy being tasked with selecting Mayberry’s most beautiful female.
To summarize the plot, a reluctant sheriff Taylor is put on the spot as the Mayberry Town Council decides to add a "Miss Mayberry" beauty pageant to the regular Founder's Day agenda, picking him as the one and only Judge. Suffice it to say that, not only does everyone from Opie to Mayor Pike try to influence Andy’s vote, but Aunt Bee then enters Ellie Walker – who despite having the obvious inside track at winning, promptly promises never speak to Andy again if he selects her.
So what does Andy do? Spoiler alert here… He selects the humble and unassuming Ms. Bishop, an older lady who not only did not enter the pageant or in any way compel Andy to choose someone she knew, but worked tirelessly behind the scenes in order to see to it that the pageant came off without a hitch!
In the end, Ms. Bishop, the citizens of Mayberry, and the entire viewing audience are all equally stunned by his selection, as the winner was not even aware she was in the contest to begin with!
There is, of course, more than one spiritual point to all of this. To begin with, beauty is more than skin deep! As the Old Testament Book of Proverbs affirms, a really beautiful woman has many more qualities than an hour-glass figure and a pretty face. Just read Proverbs 31:10-31 and see what the Bible has to say about a truly lovely lady!
Related to this, and perhaps even more significant, is a second issue. And that is this... It may very well be that those who are judged the most beautiful in God’s eyes are very often those who are not really seeking the attention, the glory, and/or honor of any such recognition to begin with!
Jesus alluded to this in His famed “Sermon on the Mount” (in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 1-6), when He said:
1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The choice Jesus presents here is clear. Like the citizens of Mayberry, we can choose to toot our own proverbial horn as we finagle our way to the top, or we can choose to just do what is right with no ulterior motive and trust God to do as He sees fit.
And Matthew, chapter 25, verses 31-46, shows us just how God "sees fit" to do things…
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Do you desire to be seen as beautiful in God’s eyes? Then why not stop all the posturing and consider what it takes in God’s eyes to be truly seen as such?
And above all, remember that, in the end, a crown awaits those who do – but only those who do!
ARTICLE SOURCE:
Janine Puhak, an editor for Fox News Lifestyle, wrote the article. It can be found at: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/worlds-most-beautiful-woman-running-list. Apparently, the TC Candler list of "100 Most Beautiful Faces" has been published annually by independent film critic TC Candler since 1990. Candler's site, www.IndependentCritics.com, has also been publishing a "Most Handsome Faces" list since 2013.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/niv/proverbs/31.htm;
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/7.htm; and
https://biblehub.com/niv/matthew/25.htm.