All Natural, Budget Friendly Health & Beauty Elixirs (Part 3): Get 6-Pack Abs In Seconds!

I saw a comical "ad" on the internet last week for the Abhancer, which promises 6-pack abs in seconds. Simply attach the Abhancer's adjustable lightweight straps tightly around your abdominal area for 6-pack definition.  Supposedly, you can wear this device under clothing to make your abdominal area appear super fit.

6 pack abs in seconds

After experiencing a traumatic delivery with my first child and then a botched C-section with my second child, I wondered if I would ever see 6-pack abs on me again.  The core and back strengthening exercises prescribed by my doctor to address my spinal problems did have the side bonus of toning my abdominal muscles, but these changes took many months of hard work.  There is no such thing as real body transformation in seconds.  Anything that makes such claims is a gimmick.

Modern culture has created a multiple billion dollar industry out of quick fix beauty gimmicks.  Global cosmetic surgery revenues alone are expected to reach $40 billion by the year 2013.  My guilty beauty indulgence has been hair care products.  I've been testing out hair color since my preteen days of using Sun-In.  I went all natural during college, but by the time I had graduated, gray hairs had already begun to sprout, so I renewed my hair coloring habit.  I have now become a slave to my roots and those invidious gray strands that clamor for attention.  Recently, thanks to a generous gift from a family member, I have discovered Royal Keratin hair conditioning treatments to tame and nourish my postpartum frizz.  Now, I'm in bondage to both color and keratin!

While all of these beauty products and treatments do make us look better, the changes are high maintenance and rarely last very long.  The fact that these improvements are fake is quite obvious to everyone especially now that it's been over 5 months since my last "hairapy" appointment.  No gimmick or cosmetic will give us the level of beauty or satisfaction that we could have if we had achieved those same results naturally.

If everyone could get 6-pack abs by simply buying a device for "three easy monthly installments of $9.99", no one would even appreciate ab definition.  Why would anyone bother working out intensely for years to get what someone else bought for less than $30?  Diet pills, steroids, and the plethora of beauty products available today could cause a culture to tend toward laziness or lack of discipline.  The same effect is true in parenting.  If parents do not enforce consequences or if they prevent natural consequences from occurring to help train their children, then those spoiled kids will likely become rude, disrespectful adults with an inappropriate sense of entitlement.

If external beauty products or treatments are not the answer to true and lasting beauty, what is the perfect beauty elixir?

1 Peter 3:3-5 (New International Version, ©2011)

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, 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.

Nothing is more beautiful than a heart surrendered to Christ.  This beauty begins within, but it emanates outward so that others can see it.   Elisabeth Elliot has suffered an enormous amount of grief and hardship during her lifetime. Nevertheless, she has always appeared absolutely radiant to me, even in her later years, because of the fullness of Christ within her.

Elisabeth Elliot

Upon seeing a woman great with child, people will often remark that the expectant woman has a beautiful glow about her.  I'm not sure if I had that radiant glow, but during each pregnancy, my face certainly looked more pleasant during my 9th month than it did during the first trimester when I was overwhelmed with nonstop nausea.

9 months pregnant with 1st child

There is something about that miraculous new little life moving about within and the hormones of pregnancy that make expectant women glow.  Pregnancy hormones made my skin oily which contributed to my sheen! 

Similarly, when a heart is surrendered to Christ, the living Spirit of God shines brightly within the believer such that others can sometimes visibly see it.  I have had the great pleasure of participating in some worship services in which up to 30,000 genuine followers of Christ were gathered together exalting the Lord with every fiber of their being.  Their faces were radiant, and they had a bright, eternal spark in their eyes.  When I looked at these true worshipers of Christ, I did not see marred humans with all of their imperfections. All I could see was the radiance of Christ in them.  They were like glorious lights!

2 Corinthians 3:19 (NIV)
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

2 Corinthians 4:6 (The Message)

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, "Light up the darkness!" and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. 

Unfortunately, many people have also witnessed worship services that were empty of the Holy Spirit.  Those in attendance sat in pews like knots on a log and were void of joy or radiance.  Some may refer to these people as the "frozen chosen".  On the outside, they look quite pious.  They wear sophisticated conservative clothing.  They never miss a church service and give to the church and to the poor.  They are quick to point out the sins of those outside of their inner circle but fail to notice the hollowness of their own hearts. They think they are righteous, but their hearts are dead.

Matthew 23:27  (NAS)
" Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

Matthew 6:2  (NAS)
"So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men.....

Revelation 3:1 (The Message)

 Write this to Sardis, to the Angel of the church. The One holding the Seven Spirits of God in one hand, a firm grip on the Seven Stars with the other, speaks: "I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigor and zest, but you're dead, stone-dead."

No matter how much a hypocrite may adorn himself with religiosity through good works, use of spiritual sounding words, or formal attire, no beauty will emanate from him.  No quick gimmick or false pretense can cover up a hardened heart.  Right actions without right motives are still filthy rags in God's sight. (Isaiah 64:6). We cannot buy or earn God's unmerited favor.  He freely bestows His grace upon all who truly believe and accept Christ as the one and only perfect way to redemption.  Receiving His grace costs us nothing, but it cost Him everything.  Radiating His beauty, however, requires moment by moment submission to His authority over our lives.  The more we die to self, the more His beautiful Spirit shines through us.  Christ doesn't offer us a cheap gimmick.  His love and His power are both real and eternal.  Even scientists and secular psychologists are finding it hard to ignore the health benefits of following Christ.  Longevity, shorter recovery time from surgery, better stress management, and improved mental health are all listed as health benefits in this article on psychologytoday.com. The ultimate health and beauty elixir is the living Spirit of God.  May we never settle for any of the world's cheap imitations. (1 John 4:3)

Psalm 50:2  (NAS)

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth.