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.
- 1 Peter 3:3-4
These beautiful women in the photo are my mother, Rosalind, and grandmother, Letty! I want to honour them today as woman who have lived a big part of their life already and can teach younger women about what really matters!
Incorruptible speaks of integrity and not being subject to physical decay! Now I don't know about you but not being subject to physical decay sounds really good to me, do you think God was trying to tell us something here? That if we spend more time tending to the hidden person of the heart we are actually also taking care of our external beauty and how we age? Perhaps we were being given a beauty tip that goes far beyond "arranging the hair or putting on fine apparel". It seems to me that we can actually prevent our bodies from looking old by working from the inside out.
Not only does the Bible tell us that we can have incorruptible beauty but it also tells us how... with a quiet and gentle spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. I must say, many times I have walked past women in the street shouting at their little child and I have thought how ugly that is and asked God to please help me remember what I noticed about that situation, so that I am more careful in the way I respond to my children. It is one thing to discipline a child and another thing to make yourself look ugly while shouting at your child, if you know what I mean... Believe me I have looked very ugly in my 17 years of being a mommy, and I don't like to think about those times when I have totally blown it and got it wrong. In my heart I really want to be a good mommy and I really want to have the incorruptible beauty that pleases my God. I do get it wrong and when I do I usually end up in tears because I know how ugly I must look to God and hate displeasing Him. Then on top of that I realise that my husband finds me unattractive in those moments and my children lose respect for me too. Oh my goodness what pressure. I try remind myself that the incident is not who I am it was just a bad moment (sometimes a really bad moment) then I lift up my chin and decide to give the gentle and quiet spirit thing another go.
Let us determine to age well by having the incorruptible beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit that pleases our Father in Heaven. Just one little tip, before you frustrate yourself trying... you probably won't be able to get it right in your own strength, ask the Holy Spirit to help you!
Love
Comments
Post a Comment