True Beauty
Read: 1 Corinthians 13.
True beauty is Christ’s character.
Let’s take a look at an insightful Scripture passage from 1 Peter:
Wives,
likewise, be submissive to your
own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may
be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste
conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair,
wearing gold, or putting on fine
apparel— rather let it be
the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in
the sight of God. For in this
manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned
themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed
Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not
afraid with any terror. 1 Peter 3:1-6 NKJV
There it is in black and white: the
Bible tells women how to make themselves internally beautiful; and this
internal beauty then radiates to the outside in the form of her character.
Perhaps this is why Isaac’s wife Rebekah was called beautiful (Gen. 24:16, 29:17).
Scripture lets us know that not only was Rebekah physically beautiful, but she
had a beautiful character because she volunteered to water the camels of a
foreigner for free (Gen. 24).
Another Angle
Many people focus on the external
“beauty” that they see on TV, but the beauty described in this passage is so
much more valuable than a “perfect body,” and quite frankly, will benefit a man
much, much more. I have brought up the first Peter 3 passage aforementioned
during a Bible study. I said, “Who wants to know how to make themselves
beautiful, because the Bible has the answer?” The girls in the room seemed to
perk up and listen inventively. . . . The answer that they got may not have
been what they were looking for, but it was a truth that all need to realize
contained in 1 Peter 3:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 13: True beauty is having the character of Christ, not the sexiest body.
