True Beauty
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
~ Proverbs 31:30 ~
Anyone familiar with the Proverbs 31 woman has of course heard or read this text above. Most however, I fear, disregard the beginning parts of this particular verse and just use the very last part "a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised".
![daniel_ridgway_knight_a3420_the_pet_[2]](http://sh.obeyingthetruth.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/daniel_ridgway_knight_a3420_the_pet_2-241x300.jpg "true_beauty")
The beauty this verse is speaking of, I believe, is the outward / external-only kind of beauty where one pretties herself up in order to be attractive to others, rather than having true, godly inward beauty that shines outwardly. True beauty does not come from painting your face [makeup, ect] (The wicked woman Jezebel painted her face.. why would we wish to imitate her? 2 Kings 9:30), making yourself look painted, powdered, and fake (and, think about it.. doing that is just saying to God — "Lord, I'm sorry to say that even though I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, you really didn't do such a good job on my looks, so I'll have to fix that and improve upon it myself."), doing fancy hair-do's, and fashionable clothing.
Oh, girls! When you adorn yourselves with external beauty, you make yourself into someone who is vain and empty, having no price and no worth, for you have no true beauty ~ if you did, you would not need to be showering on the powder & makeup and fancy hair-do's and clothes to try to make yourself pretty.
Dear sisters, adorn yourselves with modesty, shamefacedness and sobriety, good works (which becometh women professing godliness), and a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price! We've all heard the saying "Beauty is as beauty does" and oh, how true it is! The following excerpt from a book shows, indeed, how true this saying is:
In the cloakroom of a certain school a question arose among some girls as to who had the most beautiful hands. The teacher listened to her girls thoughtfully. They compared hands and explained secrets of keeping them pretty. Nettie said that a girl could not keep perfect hands and wash dishes or sweep. Maude spoke of the evil effects of cold and wind and too much sunshine. Stella told of her favorite cold cream. Ethel spoke of proper manicuring. At last the teacher spoke.
"To my mind Jennie Higgins has the most beautiful hands of any girl in school," she said quietly.
"Jennie Higgins!" exclaimed Nettie in amazement, "why her hands are rough and red and look as if she took no care of them. I never thought of them as beautiful."
"I have seen those hands carrying dainty food to the sick and soothing the brow of the aged. She is her widowed mother's main help, and she it is who does the milking and carries the wood and water, yes, and washes dishes night and morning, that her mother may be saved the hard work. I have never known her to be too tired to speak kindly to her little sister and help her in her play. I have found those busy hands helping her brother with his kite. I tell you I think they are the most beautiful hands I have ever seen, for they are always busy helping somewhere."
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.
~ 1 Timothy 2:9-10 ~
Following the footsteps of Jesus,
this is really a very beautiful article;thanks;for share whith us
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Thy Word Forever, Stablishing Hearts. Stablishing Hearts said: Girls, have you adorned yourselves with external beauty, or do you have the True Beauty that is within? http://tinyurl.com/yzjcn2p #Prov31 [...]
yes, Lacy I agree – true beauty comes from within, not without.
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I understand objecting to makeup if it's worn out of vanity, but in the argument, "Lord, I'm sorry to say that even though I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, you really didn't do such a good job on my looks, so I'll have to fix that and improve upon it myself.", what about substituting 'looks' with 'eyes' or 'feet' and saying that that's a good reason to not wear glasses or steel-toed boots? We augment what God has given us all the time, it seems to me.
The motive to wear makeup might not necessarily be vanity: someone might be self-conscious and better able to forget themselves (that is, to be the opposite of vain) in social groups by wearing makeup over a birthmark or acne or something. You might object that any self-consciousness is a sin that should be treated with strictly inside-out methods without leeway in the meantime, though I think it's good to be gentle on people with emotional problems like self-consciousness or insecurity, which don't tend to go away overnight…
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This was nice! The rebuke about girls who are wearing the makeup of Jezebel and etc. was rather harsh in my opinion… Christ barely made an exclamation about sin(with the exception of the Pharisees and Sadducees because they persistently rejected Jesus.) My opinion is this: If someone who is a non-Christian reads this for the first time, it will be highly offensive to them, especially if there is no love for God in her heart. I would say to make this type of article for people who are in the faith and are erring. That's all I have to say! [=
Take care Lacy!
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This is a beautiful post Lacy. I agree with you. You and Megan are shining examples of this. My prayer is that more young women will be encouraged by you both. I know I have been, even at my much older age…Blessings
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