The Dove company hired an experienced criminal sketch artist to draw women as they describe/perceive themselves and then to draw them as someone else perceives them. The result was a powerful video demonstrating to women the overly critical view they are carrying of themselves. At the end of the video, the Dove company chose to include this statement, “You are more beautiful than you think.”

Being involved in apologetics, I began to analyze the video. Maybe the criminal sketch artist had a biased view going into the drawings because he was informed as to the goal. Maybe the “strangers” caught onto the intentions of the producers who were filming this video. Maybe…and then I stopped. I remembered that this video initially caught my attention because of the concept: we have a different view of ourselves than others. We also have a different view of ourselves than God. It’s probably a less charitable view than the Lord’s view of us. To be sure, I am not saying that humans are perfectly good or that God doesn’t care about the evil found in individuals. However, watching the video was a reminder of the truth of God’s love of his beautiful creation (Genesis 1:31).

My provost at Houston Baptist University, John Mark Reynolds, calls people, “beautiful souls.” I think the Dove company has found a way to convey a reflection of that beauty found in us, that sometimes takes a stranger to see.