“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.”
with the incorruptible beauty
Some women are very corrupt. I do not mean necessarily that they run around with half a dozen men, but they fill their minds with anger, hostility, jealousy, and bitterness. These things make up an ugly woman – a corrupt beauty.
The woman who has “incorruptible beauty” is the woman with inner beauty. She is faithful to her husband. Neither body nor her soul is available to anyone other than him. Her husband fulfills her. Her inner beauty is incorruptible. Her husband can count on her faithfulness. When the wife puts the Lord Jesus first in her life, she moves into the sphere of the incorruptible. She is faithful to both the Lord and her husband. The more she loves her Lord, the more she loves her husband.
This inner beauty does not fade. No matter how old a woman becomes, she can still adorn her inner beauty. It survives the ravages of time. Outer beauty fades with time.
Inner beauty can grow. Fashions may change and physical beauty passes but inner beauty can blossom.
How does a woman develop deep-seated beauty? She does this by developing two categories in the seat of her being – gentle and quiet spirit. We will begin to study this next time.
PRINCIPLE:
Inner beauty frees women from seeking approval from men.
APPLICATION:
The Christian woman who has incorruptible beauty is free from slavery to men. Some women marry lemons and feel sorry for themselves. They always look for approval from men. Her husband happens to be around. She never instinctively thinks of him. She always seeks approval from him. She wants him to think of her. She needs constant approval. This wife continually does something to gain his approbation. If she does not get it, she turns to other men. She is vain in her self-consciousness. She tries to gain his attention by flirting with other men. Further, if she has lost hope in her husband, she does it simply for the attention of other men. She may spend hours a day in front of a mirror examining herself. When she steps out from the mirror, she expects everyone else to admire her.
There is little instinct for true love for her husband. She is always looking looks for compliments: “Your hair looks great. You have nice legs. You look strikingly beautiful today.” Just think of the poor man that married her. She is taken with herself.
A woman with true biblical beauty can change all this. She will begin to look at her husband differently. She will respond to him with positive volition. Her inner beauty will change her self-consciousness into other-consciousness. She is no longer that superficial person she once was. No longer is she taken with her own beauty. She shares her beautiful person with others.
