A Womans Image... Part 2

Isaiah 53:2 describes the coming of the incarnate Christ by saying, "...He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." If Christ Himself, with God in the creation of beauty, did not see fit to render himself beautiful as a means to draw others to him, why then should I desire to have or create a beauty that will point others to myself and not Christ? "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12)." What a complex concept. As a woman I wish to be beautiful for my husband and to be desired. Where is that line that makes me pleasing to my husband, but not consumed by the images shaped by this world? As I wrestled with this question I ran across a verse that I’m sure I have read before, but this time was the first time that my eyes were opened. "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. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their husbands (1 Peter 3:4-5)." There is something greater then the physical beauty that exists just in our physical likeness of Christ; it is the beauty of our inward or spiritual likeness of Christ. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord…Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22,24).” Not that submission is the key to all beauty, but is a mighty tool that is constantly used by God to remind His children to be humbled and to keep a gentle and quiet spirit.

So what should our adorning be? Where is that line? The bible speaks of the Proverbs 31 woman saying, "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at time to come… She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong (v. 25,17).” Perhaps this clothing carries a greater reward then the satisfaction of thinking I look beautiful.
The Reward: “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, he praises her: ‘Many woman have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” There is the line. Beauty is found in the ways that God has called us to walk as woman. Beauty is described by all of the things that are embodied in the Proverbs 31 woman. Let look at how this Proverbs ends, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her words praise her in the gates.”

Amen and thanks be to God that he has created a beauty that is greater then that which is measured by this world. Be encouraged about yourself this day wife and mom!


"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you (Jeremiah 1:5)"