The Beauty Within…
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.~ 1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV)
Many of you might have read/seen this past week the new dove-beauty campaign. That got me thinking (I know — usually gets me into trouble)…
What truly makes a woman beautiful? The skin? The body? Of course I want to look good for my husband. I do my daily regiments (which seem to get longer as I get older :wink:) to keep my skin clean and ‘presentable’. But is that the only way I am beautiful? Reading Peter’s words about beauty, I think that we should look also at the beauty within. A quiet and gentle spirit.
But how can I obtain a gentle and quiet spirit? This world is hard and angry. It is not easy to keep quiet and gentle all the time. You know what works for me in situations where I want to just speak up? I stop and pray. I pray that God will give me His gentle Spirit to respond to someone who is lashing out at me. If I would react on my first impulse, nothing good will come out of it. If I rely on Him though, I am calm and collected.
Paul writes in his letter to the believers in Colossi:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.†~ Colossians 3:12-13 (ESV)
Let God invade you heart today. Let Him make you beautiful within. The beauty that comes from within, will also show outward.
Lord of Heaven & Earth. I am asking you this morning to give me a quiet and gentle spirit. I know that You make me beautiful within and outward. Lord, with Your Spirit I can show the world what true beauty means. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen
I saw this video earlier this week and am glad to see it posted where many women will see it. It is awesome. On another note…just this morning before I got out of bed I prayed for God to guide me instead of letting my emotions….you are so correct about acting on that first impulse 🙂
what is inside is soon seen on the outside! so often i have seen someone that looks OUTWARDLY beautiful but as soon as they open their mouth – the beauty is gone.
thank you for the post. very encouraging and full of truth!
I a loving the campaign that Dove is doing. I hope that it will help all of our young girls growing up with self image.
Thanks for your message, it speaks the truth!
If only it were as easy as putting on a garment… makes me think we must be “sewing” this into our lives through practice, even when our hearts are ragged and struggling…
Iris,
This is a wonderful post. I read the comments above and they are wonderful too. Thank you for your encouragement. Be blessed!
Sometimes I wonder…imagine…what the people recorded in scripture looked like. We know Sarah and Bathsheba were physically beautiful, and David and Joseph come to mind. Paul…John the Baptist…even Jesus.
But, I think God in His infinite wisdom, intended for the writers to paint with their words, and for the most part, left physical descriptions purposefully vague. So we would see the beauty within. So we would desire the beauty within.
The Holy Spirit within us is not overtly seen with the eye. But hopefully….He IS seen with the heart.
Beautiful thoughts you have stirred :).
Some excellent thoughts, Iris. A few more… I think a person’s inner beauty can be perceived through their words. It’s interesting to “listen” to someone’s heart through their speaking and writing. You can tell a lot about a blogger’s inner state by what they say. Along those lines, one of my favourite quotes by Emily Dickenson is this: “A Letter always seemed to me like Immortality, for is it not the Mind alone, without corporeal friend?”
I am always encouraged by verses that speak of inner qualities because they point back to the very nature and character of God. Would He call us to be any less than the beauty he is Himself?
Blessings!
I found the dove campanige to be a bit much. I really don’t want to go through that much unless they can keep it to the 2 minutes!! I am who I am!
But you are right about the response we give and the character it shows. I fight constantly with my nature which is to fight ugly with ugly. Some times I don’t do well but thankfully God knows me and knows I am struggling to do better. Like you I to pray for that gentle nature to be found and shown!
Great piece Iris!
ooh this is a good one, I haven’t seen the latest dove campaigne, it probably won’t be too far off from reaching our shores but anyway the verses you shared are so true, just goes to show that what’s inside is more important than what’s on the outside.
Those people who are truly beautiful.. you can see the light of Christ shine in them, and you are mesmerized by that and can’t remember what they actually look like…
wonderful post!
Thanks for the reminder about attaining true beauty!
Blessings!
Thanks Iris, I needed this reminder. A gentle spirit is tough for me!
Beautifully written. I want to join you in that prayer.
Blessings,
V.
I’d rather be ugly to the eye with beauty on the inside, than to be the most beautiful woman in the eyes of everyone who has none of His love within me.
One of our friends at church died recently (he was only 39) and hadn’t been a Christian very long. The love of the Lord was so evident that people who only knew him from work or school could Jesus in him!
The tongue is one of my weakest areas and~praise HIS name~God has been working with me! James said (3:8)”No one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.” It’s only through God’s help we can have victory over the tongue.