Recently I interviewed a famous anti-aging doctor, Dr. Doris J. Day, a dermatologist who has a practice on the upper east side of New York City. She is well-known for treating lots of famous faces.
Of course, people who have anti-aging treatments done on themselves don't usually like to talk about it, and due to doctor-patient confidentiality codes, the doctors are forbidden to discuss their patients without the patients permission.
But word-of-mouth circulates among agents in the city-that-never-sleeps, and people know Dr. Day is the go-to doc for Botox and fillers, among other things. Only one of Dr. Day's famous patients has disclosed that she has been seeing the good doctor for many years, and that is the gorgeous Vanessa Williams.
Williams openly discusses the fact that Dr. Day has been giving her Botox injections since she was 40. In fact, she even appeared with Dr. Day on the Rachel Ray show. To see this and the other television appearances of Dr. Day's, go to her website.
So I learned a lot about the latest medical advancements in the anti-aging arena, and like most industries, it continuously gets better. I was amazed at how good some of Dr. Day's patients looked, especially when I learned how old they are.
There was a time when I would shun such treatments. But now that I am over 40 I don't have as much of a problem with it. It's really a blow to the ol' self-confidence to see an older woman staring back at you in the mirror, especially when I still feel like a teenager (hopefully I've matured some since then!).
But like most Christians, I am concerned about the worldliness of such procedures. After all, the Bible states that our beauty should be on the inside, not external. God clearly wants us to be deep, not superficial.
Then there comes into play the aspect of stewardship. We are to spend the money God gives us, wisely. These anti-aging treatments are not cheap. Is spending our money on expensive beauty treatments an example of good stewardship?
I think, like many spiritual questions, the answer lies with the individual circumstances. For instance, if you have the money for such treatments in your budget, they might be okay to do, as long as you put it into perspective.
By that I mean that we mustn't ever inflate the importance of your outward appearance. We all know people who think their physical appearance is the most important thing in their lives, which of course is a sin. We have to remember that it is fine to want to look your best, but not to get carried away with it. After all, don't we dress nicely, wear makeup, color our grey hair, etc.?
But we do these things, keeping God front-and-center in our lives. It's all about judgment. God knows our hearts and it's important to pray about all matters and seek God's guidance in every decision we make.