BE YOU….BEaUtiful

By: Monique Smith

This message is more for the ladies, but you fellas can benefit from it as well. Text is coming from 1 Peter 3:1-4. Initially, I was going to skip the first few verses about husbands and wives, but since we all are in hopes of being married one day, why not include them.

In the same ways, wives, submit yourself to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message, they may be won over without a message by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives. Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornaments or fine clothes. Instead, it should consist of what is inside the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very valuable in God’s eyes.

Briefly, from the first few messages, we learn that as women of God, our lives should be so pure, holy, and reverent to God, that men will be drawn closer to Christ because of our lifestyles. I know this is speaking more to the husband and wife situation, but I also feel that this is relevant in other relationships with boyfriend/girlfriends and even friends. NO I am not saying that these scriptures should be used as an “excuse” to date someone who is living completely out of the will of God, so please do not misunderstand me. I am simply saying that our lifestyles should exemplify Christ so much so, that we should not have to plead with others to stop evil activities, but they will be so convicted by our pure lifestyles, that they will change their own. This goes back to the previous devotional about holy living and the charge we, as a CHOSEN RACE (1 Peter 2:9) have on our lives.

Now to get to the topic of this devotional, verse 3 tells us that we should not have to do all this extra stuff to make ourselves beautiful. This is a HARD one to take in. Considering our societies standards on beauty, it is so easy to feel less pretty or even ugly in comparison with someone else. But, we have to remember, we are NOT of this world, and our standards should not be that of the worlds. God tells us that our beauty should come from the heart, which holds the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (that is of course if we are fearing the Lord and fleeing from evil). I LOVE that the beauty of the heart is imperishable! Proverbs 31: 30 tells us that “…beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.” We can waste all our time getting our hair done (or cut) or buying new clothes and shoes to impress a guy/girl, but NONE of that matters. Like it really does not matter. If your heart is trash, if you have no reverence for the Lord, all that excess stuff that you are using to get attention will amount to nothing. Being 100% honest, this is a message that is SO easy to ignore. It’s so abstract and contrary to my nature to not want to change my hair or wear nice things to get attention and be ‘liked’ by a guy. But as God keeps bringing this to my attention, I am more and more convicted by it. I pray that each of you, take the time to pray for us all concerning this.

Prayer: Lord, thank you SO much for your grace, love and mercy! Thank you for your faithfulness and your Word! Lord, I ask that you touch our hearts and allow us to see how beautiful we are in your sight, JUST by being obedient to your Word. Reassure us that we have all the qualities that our future mate desires and that we don’t need to change anything to seek their approval. Lord, allow our lifestyles to be a prime example of purity and reverence to your holy name and help us all in our quest after you! In Jesus name, Amen! :)

I encourage each of you to spend more time with God this week and every week following this. If you read your Bible only twice a week, I encourage you to read 3 times this week. The Key to defeating our FLESH is to dilute it with God’s Word. How can you expect to beat your struggle if you only see God’s Word once a week?! #real