Unfading Beauty

"Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 

This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands."

1 Peter 3:3-5

My sister and I were talking the other night about beauty and the things we women set our minds on. We set our minds on the weight we've gained and the clothes that don't fit, the teeth that aren't gleaming white and have gone crooked even after years of having braces, the frizz in our hair or the frizz we call our hair, the unwanted wrinkles and zits on our faces, the double chins and the saggy-ness of places that we would prefer not to see sag.  We then try to cover-up these undesirable imperfections.  We spend time, money, and energy to beautify the fading beauty. We try desperately to hold on to something that God never intended for us to hold onto.

A voice said, "Shout!"

I asked, “What should I shout?”

“Shout that people are like the grass.

Their beauty fades as quickly

as the flowers in a field.

The grass withers and the flowers fade

beneath the breath of the Lord.

And so it is with people.

The grass withers and the flowers fade, 

but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:6-8

Outward beauty fades.  Inward beauty, however, doesn't.  Unfading beauty is within our hearts.  My sister said she needs to work on the beauty within before she can ever tackle the beauty on the outside.  So true.  When we begin working on the the unfading beauty of gentleness and peace (quietness), then we become beautiful from the inside out.  Less time, money, and energy will be spent. So how do we do this?  

We seek God.  We live intentionally for Him.  We make what matters to Him more important than what we think matters to the world.  We "set our minds on things above and not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2), and we maintain the look of our hearts.  

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 

1 Samuel 16:7

Don't let beauty fade.  Rather, maintain your inner beauty with the One who makes all things beautiful. God is so divinely good, and you are so precious to Him.