Which Door Would You Choose?

The company did it again.
They made another film about women’s beauty.
Not the airbrushed, cookie cutter beauty that society seems to crave.
Rather the unique, precious beauty of every woman.

I clicked on the link, knowing that I have never been disappointed before.
Once again, they made a film to get you thinking.
Once again, they made a film that contradicted what mainstream media portrays.
The premise was simple: are you beautiful or average?

The company named this film, The Two Doors, for their Choose Beautiful campaign.
Two doors were placed above the entrance of shopping centers in five cities.
The cities were: San Francisco, Shanghai, Delhi, London, and Sao Paulo.
Above one door was the word, Average; above the other door was the word, Beautiful.

The dilemma.
Which door will you choose?
How do you see yourself?
How do you think others see you?

I watched as woman after woman walked through the door with the word, Average.
I watched as woman after woman paused and seemed to think about the door to choose.
I found myself cheering them on.
Choose beautiful, I said to no one, yet to everyone.

Choose beautiful.
There was nothing average about any of these women.
They were all masterpieces from the Creator’s hand.
They were from all nations; they came in all shapes, all sizes, and all colors.

They visibly debated which door to walk through.
Only a small handful walked through the Beautiful door.
I was sad as I watched.
What lie have they been conditioned to believe?

The women hesitated to choose the Beautiful door.
Beautiful is too far away and out of reach for me, one woman said.
One mother confidently walked up to the Beautiful door.
Her teenaged daughter was ready to go through the Average door.

The mother encouraged her daughter to walk through the Beautiful door with her.
I wish more young women would realize it, she said referring to their beauty.
Another woman said the choice was a bit confronting making her feel self conscious.
How do I perceive myself and how does the rest of the world perceive me?

It was eye opening for another woman who walked through the Average door.
I didn’t feel good about my choice, she said afterwards.
I rated myself Average…nobody else.
I watched as one woman walked away, not choosing either door.

A woman pushing another woman in a wheelchair visibly changed her direction.
She purposefully walked through the Beautiful door.
The smile of the woman in the wheelchair said it all.
After walking through the Average door each day, another woman chose Beautiful.

What are we afraid of?
Why are we unable to admit that we are beautiful?
What standard do we use to measure ourselves?
Do we have the courage to say that the standard we are using is wrong?

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground…the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground – the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 1:26 and 2:7)

That is our standard of beauty.
We are made in God’s image.
We are alive and human because God breathed His breath into our nostrils.
We are valuable, we are special, we are incredibly beautiful because of Him.

Our culture would have us believe that beauty is all about what we see on the outside.
That couldn’t be more wrong!
Beauty comes from within, the part of Himself that God left inside each one of us.
Beauty comes from the imprint of the Creator.

What if we all really believed that?
What if we lived our life knowing how incredibly special we are?
What if we chose to see ourselves each day as a beautiful masterpiece?
What difference would that make in our daily life?

Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame. (Psalm 34:5)

Radiant faces exude the Lord’s Glory.
Radiant faces have heads held high.
There is beauty with no shame.
The beauty that comes from the inside; true and lasting.

That is the kind of beauty we need to see in ourselves.
That kind of beauty is not conceited.
That kind of beauty is fact.
We are made in His image and we are beautiful.

One woman in the film admitted something after walking through the Beautiful door.
I feel triumphant, like I’m telling the world I think I’m beautiful.
The beautiful door is completely open for me.
Yes, it is!

As the film ends, we hear the summation.
Beautiful is a great word so why not see what is on the other side of that.
See yourself as beautiful.
You are made in the image of God.