We can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Lipstick on a pig means we try to make something look better than it is.

• A pretty plate does not make bad food taste good.
• Fresh paint on a falling-down house does not make it safe.
• A new building does not make a failing business succeed.

Change must occur inside as well as outside.

• Cook better food to go on that pretty plate.
• Repair the house and then paint it.
• Change how the business in that new building operates.

Lipstick on a pig fools few people.

Often it fools no one.

• Quick fixes rarely last.
• Living high on the hog does not make us successful.
• Acting high and mighty does not give us power.

Only true change makes a difference.

An improved appearance may make us feel better for a while. However, we must tackle the real problems for lasting change.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you” (Romans 12:2 TLB).

Thanks to Frank Cheatham for the suggestion.

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