Thank you for the question on acceptance, “How come God doesn’t like ugly? Is that really in the Bible? What does it mean and is it in a literal or parable sense?”
Without knowing what Bible verse or inferences of the Bible that God doesn’t like ugly, I can’t comment on a particular verse that you have in mind.
From a Scriptural teaching point of view, here are some thoughts for one’s consideration on ugliness:
A. Every person is made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 126–27).
Every human being is beautiful in God’s sight. They are made in the image and likeness of himself. When God completed creation, he said that it was very good. The value and beauty of a person is in the character of the person.
Genesis 1 says this, “26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (NIV).
B. Every person’s appearance is different (Psalm 139:13–17).
Psalm 139 says that God made us beautiful outwardly, but sin has marred the physical appearance of humans.
Psalm 139 says this, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 5 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God! How vast is the sum of them!” (NIV).
The birth of every baby is precious and beautiful. What happens if a child is born with defects? Is it still beautiful? It is our comparison of the physical appearance or ability of the child to other children that marks that child as being “inferior” or ugly. This includes accidents as well.
Instead of being compassionate, we discriminate and relate a certain group of people to a certain tier. With my wife having a hemorrhagic stroke, I have been made more acutely aware of this for the last 20 plus years. I have more compassion when I see others similar to my wife or those who are aged.
Our bodies will decay and become deformed in some way. We will all lose our outward physique when we were young and handsome or beautiful. To focus on the outward appearance is to miss the inward beauty of a person.
Some say that the scars of Jesus will be seen in heaven. Will there be the marks of the crown of thorn, the nails in his hands and feet? Will that make him ugly? I think not. The scars are reminder for us of his love and sacrifice for us.
No child or adult wishes to be ugly in appearance. They want to be like everyone else. The distinctive appearances of whatever kind makes us unique in the presence of others and to our God. The deformities of one’s appearance will be removed one day at the return of Jesus Christ. We will have new bodies like Jesus Christ. Physical appearance will be irrelevant at that time, but our character will be most cherished.
Don’t let our physical scars or emotional scars determine our worth or even the comments of others. God says that you are beautiful for he made you with value and worth. Jesus loves us so much looking past our physical appearances, our failures and even our sins to forgive us through his dear Son, Jesus Christ. It is in Christ that a person finds wholeness and acceptance.
Summary: Our value doesn’t come from our appearance or social standing, but it comes from God. God sees us as precious for he made us with worth.
-Kingston