3 Reasons to Say NO to Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Procedures

Here are three reasons to say no to plastic surgery if you’ve been considering it.

Have you ever considered plastic surgery or other cosmetic procedures when you look in the mirror and see something that you just don’t like? Well, today I’m going to talk about this, aging gracefully, and why it’s a gift. Plus, I have three reasons why you should just say no to plastic surgery.

A little warning before we get into this topic, when I was laying in bed brainstorming this episode God asked me to share some information that is not really for small ears towards the end. This part of my testimony isn’t child-friendly. So if you’re in the car or you’re listening at home and you’ve got small ears around you may want to pop some earbuds in or turn this off and save it for a time that is more adult-friendly.

I know that I would not be comfortable with some of my kids hearing this at their age until they’re old enough that I can definitely explain it a little bit better. I don’t want you to ever feel like I upset you or your children with some of this content.

This episode idea came to me one day about a month ago when I was driving to see my midwife for a prenatal appointment. We get bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages a day, and I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t notice every billboard along the road when I’m driving. But this day, one really jumped out at me.

It was a before and after picture of a tummy tuck procedure, and there was nothing graphic about it. The ad had one sentence worth of text and there was like a cartoon woman image on each side next to the stomach. But it was a before and after picture of a tummy tuck of someone who had their stomach procedure done.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll definitely say that I have looked in the mirror sometimes at my own stomach and thought to myself, “oh, this is never going to go away.” I’ve had six kids, I’m pregnant with my seventh and there is just extra skin there that no amount of exercise, diet, or anything else is ever going to make or move. For me, I just don’t really care.

The only time it would matter to me so much is if I’m going to wear a bikini. But I have passed the point in my life where I want to wear a bikini. So for me, it’s not something I sit and dwell over very much.

When I was younger, I also considered having a breast reduction. My doctor at the time told me to wait until after I had had kids because if I wanted to nurse them it would make it extremely complicated, almost impossible based on some conversations I’ve had with other people. But again, at this point, I’ve decided that I’m not really interested in having surgery for any reason like that. 

Also, since I’m being completely transparent, I used to hate my nose when I was growing up. And I thought about one day, maybe if I’m really rich, I’ll have a nose job, which, was not that expensive. But to a 17-year-old something that expensive seems insane. I just want to say all this because I want you to know as I go into this story and the content today that I have thought about having plastic surgery at various moments in my life.  I have thought about how it would fix my flaws in a way that was simple.

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Reason #1 to Say No to Plastic Surgery: It’s Very Dangerous

Today, I want to talk about three reasons why you should not consider plastic surgery. I’m going to go back to that tummy tuck for number one. The reason is it’s extremely dangerous. On the tummy tuck procedure, you may know this or you may not, but you can go Google before and after and see the scars.

They cut you in a 180-degree circular pattern from hip to hip, usually from around the back of your hip, all the way around the front of your body to the back of the other hip. Then they pull that skin and they do a bunch of different things before they reattach it. It’s a very extreme surgery and anytime you have surgeries it’s very dangerous.

The anesthesia is extremely dangerous. If you think about it, they’re trying to get you as close to dead so you don’t feel anything and then wake you back up. You know, that’s a dangerous thing. It’s risky anytime you go under anesthesia. This is something you’re taking on, not for a true medical reason, but just for preference. Your risk of blood clots and other complications is really high.

Not to talk about the fact that I think that medical malpractice is one of the top leading causes of death in the United States. So when you think about surgery it’s dangerous. Many times it’s very medically necessary. It’s needed and it’s a medical gift. You know, God empowered people to learn these things, to help save lives.

However, when you’re talking about plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures, 99% of the time, other than something like a dog bite to the face, which is a little bit more extreme, more medically necessary, most of these times we’re talking about a vanity choice, an elective surgery, that’s just because of vanity.

So you’re taking on these tremendous risks to your health, all in the name of choice and vanity. The reality is that I’m a big believer in this whole thing called “Don’t break it if it’s working.” I’m not a big fan of surgeries that destroy something in the body that works just fine. To me, plastic surgery is one of those things. 

Some of these cosmetic procedures are outpatient, like a skin procedure.  You may not think of them as being dangerous, but there really are no long-term studies on what effect they’re having on the skin. Honestly, every time you consider these, consider the fact that you are putting your health and your life at risk. This is a great reason to say, no.

This is the reason why I’ve come to the place with breast reduction, where I don’t really want to do that. I don’t feel like going under anesthesia and going under the knife and being in pain because honestly, they’re not causing me that many problems anymore. So don’t risk your life over your vanity. It’s not worth it. 

Reason #2 to Say No to Plastic Surgery: Aging is a Gift

The number two reason why we should say no to plastic surgery is that aging really is a gift. Now, I want to be really upfront with why this is an issue for women when it comes to aging. It’s because our society is built in a way that devalues women and it devalues older people in general. You can really almost look at the way that the people in nursing homes were treated during Covid.

The way many of them were left alone without anyone to visit them. It’s really just a picture of how our culture doesn’t value the wisdom of age and those who are older and how we view people as only useful when they’re able to work and contribute. That is not the case around the world or historically.

People have been older and often valued for their wisdom, their age, and what they can offer to the younger generation. Titus 2, actually talks about the older women being an inspiration to the younger women and taking care of them and mentoring them. I want to leave you with that thought, definitely that we are not supposed to be shoved off and shuttled to the side as we get older. 

That our wisdom is a gift and that aging is a part of gaining that wisdom. And that the wrinkles on our faces show that wisdom. It shows our aging and it shows our gifts. But it is that societal message that tells us that it’s better for us if we can look younger. It’s not okay if we look 60, 70, or 80, we need to look 50. That seems to be the cutoff point.

We need to look 50 because we can still be productive when we’re 50 and we can still contribute to society. But that is not true. You can continue to contribute until the day that you die. Your wisdom, your knowledge, your encouragement, those are all beautiful things in the sight of God. And they have nothing to do with how you look.

They have to do with who you are and what God has done in your life. The stories that you can tell, the encouragement you can give, and the help that you can offer other women to become who God’s creating them to be. 

Reason #3 to Say No to Plastic Surgery: Your Flaws Tell a Story

The third thing is that your flaws tell a story. I’m going to be honest when I was thinking about this episode and this came to me and I felt like God was asking me to share this story. I was like, ok, we can share this story. It’s a little uncomfortable, but it’ll be ok. It’s fine. And this morning I got up and I sat down to record this, and I was like, maybe I should do a different episode. I’m not sure I want to do this. 

I just sat here and I prayed. Eventually, I was like, you know what, God, it’s okay. If you want me to tell this story, then you’re going to make sure that people are ready to hear the story, and I’m going to be fine and it’s going to be fun. We’re all just going to be fine over here.  Because the Bible says that they’ll overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. I believe it’s in Revelations, it’s in a great song as well.

Your flaws tell a story. So I’m going to tell a story. I have this spot on my nose. It’s really small, it’s some kind of weird deposit or buildup, and it just appeared. I don’t really know what it is. It’s not cancer. It’s been there for a long time now, but it appeared and I’ve seen a dermatologist since then. It’s nothing dangerous. It’s just there. And it appeared in my mid-twenties and my mom hates it. 

She will occasionally say to me, she’ll point at my nose and almost touch it and say, you should get that removed. And the thing is, I know why she hates it. I know what memories she’s having. I know what story she knows that makes her hate it so much. This mysterious bump appeared as I said in my twenties randomly. I did not have it when I was growing up. It appeared after I had been doing drugs for several years. 

I don’t mean smoking marijuana. I mean, I was doing cocaine and other hard drugs for several years, a really dark period in my life. I don’t notice this bump anymore and it doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve really never thought about having it removed. And at this point in my life, like 20-plus years later I don’t think about it really. Now that I see it, now that I have a different perspective, I remember the story. 

I remember that I was a complete mess, my life was a complete mess, and I was in some really dangerous situations. There were some really bad things that happened. This went on for about two years of my life. I had left the church and had gone completely against God’s will for my life. There are a lot of other crazy stories and even crazier testimonies than this, if you can believe it. I was just a mess. 

I was constantly in situations that were really dangerous. And when I see the bump, I remember that God had a plan for me even in the midst of all of that. Even in the midst of the fact that I was not acknowledging him or even pretending to follow him. I wasn’t even sure that there was one God or what religion was or anything else.

I think I believed something like all paths lead to the same God or something random. I just was a mess, right? And I see this bump and this bump tells a story. I know some people might get it removed. It might be a vanity issue. Or like my mom, it might drive them crazy to remember this really kind of traumatic period of my life, especially as a mom.

I’m sure it was really traumatic for her to watch me and not be able to do anything about it. But for me, I just see God’s hand on me in my life. I see that he was always there. I see that he was saving me. He had something better for me and he was just waiting and keeping me safe in those moments.

Being the God of goodness that wants us to come back to him, that wants us to lead a life for him, wants us to follow him and be just completely sold out. It reminds me that no one is too far for him to reach. There is nothing that you can do that is so far that God can’t get to you. No matter what you think about him or what you are doing there’s nowhere that he can’t get to you.

Maybe you’re sitting over there and you’re saying, oh, Stacey, I don’t have any stories like that. I don’t have any stories of scars where God pulled me from the pit. But your scars and your flaws do tell a story. The story they tell is beautiful, it’s the story of your life. The life as God is weaving for you. And that story is a gift and your life is a gift. 

Final Thoughts on Why You Should Say No to Plastic Surgery

I just want to ask you today to think about something that you hate about your body. And I said, hate there because we all have it. We all look in the mirror. And there are things, they’re tiny micro things. The reality is most people don’t notice them the way that you notice them because people aren’t focused on you that way. It’s called the spotlight effect.

We think people are looking at us in a way. They’re not looking at us and paying attention to our flaws, and then they’re not paying attention to our flaws. But what is that thing? What is that thing that you dislike intensely that you look at your body and you think, oh, I’m just going to, if I could just cut this off or get this fixed or get this removed, or if this was smaller or if I could make this go away, what is that thing?

Then I want you to think, what’s the story? Why do you have this thing? Is it because you had six kids and your stomach skin is never going to be the same again? Is it because you were in a horrible car accident and God saved you from that and rehabilitated you and healed you? Now that’s part of your story and your testimony? 

Maybe it’s something really small. It could be the time that you were putting a yard sign in the front yard and you got crazy and you broke your thumb. And now you have a little scar there and you just learned a lesson about stubbornness and persistence in a good way. It doesn’t have to be a big story. All of our stories are God’s stories.

Every small story is a story of how he was there with you and that moment, keeping you on the path, on the plan, and making those things work out for you. Even if you did things that you probably shouldn’t have, things you did that were bad, terrible, that were not of God. He was there working that story out for his will and his plan for your life.

So my prayer for you today is just that you would let your age be a blessing. Let it be a gift to others. Let your wisdom be something that you give out freely, encouraging others in a way that blesses them and helps lift them up. Let your stories be told in the flaws, in the scars, in the things on your body that you wish you could change.

Just accept them as God’s gifts of who you are, what you’ve been through, what he’s done in your life, and how he’s created you to be this person right now today who is speaking life and encouraging others. Plastic surgery is dangerous! Don’t make crazy decisions that are dangerous just because you have a little extra skin on your belly. Your life is infinitely more valuable than vanity surgery.

Having said all that, this is my last piece of encouragement. If you have a story, a testimony that’s hard to tell, I’m going to tell you to pray on it. I’m not going to tell you necessarily to just go speak it out right now because like I indicated earlier, I have stories and testimonies that are far worse than this one that I hold really close. And I don’t share them because they’re scary to share.

It’s scary that people will judge me and think badly of me.  I’m sure having said that, the time is probably coming, that I’ll be sharing them. So I urge you to pray and ask God for courage. Because he’s great at giving that. Ask him for the words to speak the story that you’re afraid to tell because our testimony is what this all comes down to. 

The longer we live, the more testimony we have. And our testimony is one of the most powerful things that we have to combat everything in life including the schemes of the devil and the things that other people throw against us, but also to help other people and to encourage them. God’s miraculous provision in our lives is powerful. It is one of the most powerful things to tell other people what he’s doing.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. I hope that not only have we talked about this societal problem of plastic surgery and vanity and body image, but also brought it into the light of who God is and what God does and how it’s always wonderful and we should embrace those changes and just be proud.

Be proud to be a daughter of the king. Be proud to be someone that he is guiding and whose hand is on us because that truly is a precious gift. 

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Keep these reasons to say no to plastic surgery in mind the next time you start to think about changing your body.