1 Peter 3:3-4

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. - 1 Peter 3:3,4

Monday, June 4, 2012

Real Beauty: Outward Beauty versus Heart Beauty


Magazines, TV shows, celebrities, catwalks: they are all hiding behind there ‘beauty’ of their bodies. They tell us that we are not beautiful unless we do the same. But as Christians we don’t follow the world anymore. God says that actually, beauty comes from within.


Why are we talking about true beauty? As I am struggling with the demands of today with make-up, clothing, and jewellery not knowing if I should wear it, or how much I should care about beauty, I realized that I had given over my life to Christ, I am His, I need to do what He would have me do in this area.
For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive…according to what he has done whether good or bad. – 2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV
Take a step back and look at eternity, God made the world, and in the end those that believe on Jesus will go to heaven, and live in heaven forever, for eternity. Now think about beauty. I realized that beauty is not going to get me to heaven.
Therefore do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing [dying], yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. – 2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV

Does beauty really matter then? I didn’t know. Does God think make-up is evil? Should I wear jewellery? Do I need to wear un-fashionable clothing to be a Christian? I dug into Gods Word, and He brought these versus my way.

Do not let your adornment be...
[just]… outward… rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible [undying] beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. – 1 Peter 3:3-4 (words in brackets mine.) NKJV
He is saying that a gentle and quiet spirit is beautiful. The good, pure God-given stuff in our heart is beautiful or drop-dead gorgeous. 
Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. – Proverbs 11:22 NIV
Does a pig with a gold ring through its nose look pretty to you? God is saying that without the virtue discretion, a woman is ugly.  Without that good thing in the heart, we might as well be pigs with a gold ring. Ever seen a girl who is gorgeous, but then as you get to know her you realize she lies behind your back, she does whatever she feels like doing, she swears at her friends, and doesn’t keep secrets.  She is pretty to the worlds standards, but when you think about her, would the word ‘pretty’ or ‘gorgeous’ come to your mind, or would you think ‘horrible’?
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us;… - Psalm 90:17a NKJV

God is good in every way. If He is in our hearts and changing our actions, then His beauty shines through us. Those pig-ish actions are chucked out and replaced with beautiful actions.

And the last one…

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment… - 1 Peter 3:3

My beauty should not come from the outside. My beauty should not come from what a wear, what my face looks like, or whether I have no acne (or pimples!) today.
REAL beauty comes from the inside. It comes from what we have in our heart, not what we wear!
True beauty is what shines through our lives through our actions, through our smiles, through our discretion and gentle, quiet spirit. Beauty comes straight from God living in our hearts and pushing beauty through us!


There is that beauty that the world thinks of; that outward beauty. But think: our bodies are dying and growing old. We might have beauty now as we are young, but as we grow old, what will we have left? Do we have the undying beauty that shines out no matter what we look like?

The world is selling us the fake beauty of outward appearances. It is covering up the fact that beauty actually lies within. We are made to be known for our good actions, not for our good looks.

Make sure what’s on the outside reflects the purity on the inside. – A Young Woman After Gods Own Heart, by Elizabeth George.
As I was reading those versus I learnt that God does care about beauty, that He wants me to be beautiful, but with a beauty that does not fade with age, a beauty that is the overflow of what is in my heart.

~ Meggie

Stay tuned for how we should put this inner beauty in our lives. How do we cultivate good things in our hearts? This beauty of the heart is good and all but how does that relate to clothing, make-up and jewellery?
Taleisha is posting next on cultivating modesty and chasteness in our lives.



1 comment:

  1. GREAT job Meggie! I love it and can't wait to post Modesty and Chasteness!

    Love and Blessings,
    Taleisha :)

    ReplyDelete