Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
Charm and beauty are without question two of the things our culture values most.
The people our society considers most successful (movie stars, singers, millionaires) are more often than not ridiculously good looking. Whether they’re successful because they’re attractive or attractive because their success can buy plastic surgery, the message we get is the same: beauty and success go hand-in-hand.
Today’s girls very quickly learn that a little charm can go a long way in getting them what they want. Cosmo to Teen Bop equally promise to teach us “50 fun new ways to flirt” and what kind of body language is sure to give us the result we want. Movies tend portray flirtatious women as the ideal we should all strive toward.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that God isn’t impressed by the things that wow our culture. In fact, it should be obvious that culture’s obsession with beauty and charm is at odds with everything Biblical.
It makes complete sense, but it can be so hard to remember! When everything around me tells me I should be worried about my body, that my face is far from perfect, that I should spend more time on my hair, that my style needs an upgrade or two, and that I should be concerned about making men take a second glance at me it’s extremely hard to remember what God’s word has to say.
That’s what this verse reminds us of. Whatever beauty I might gain will one day disappear; even if I die beautiful, my corpse will never be attractive. Whatever charm techniques I might master, they’ll be at best a façade and at worst a sinful attempt at deception.
God doesn’t want beauty and charm from us. He wants us to fear (respect, admire, adore) him! He doesn’t expect us to spend hours getting ready or to impress him with our charm – he expects us to follow the pattern he set out for us, to walk in his commandments striving to be more like him each day.
Proverbs 31 describes a godly virtuous woman. Out of 21 verses that describe her, only one mentions anything related to her beauty. That was obviously not her strongest point! That doesn’t mean she was ugly; it means that because among all her other admirable qualities, beauty was secondary. Her strengths were her wisdom, trustworthiness, intelligence, resourcefulness, and the love she showed her family.
Let’s think about what we’re investing in. Are we investing on the superficial qualities the world admires or on the virtues God calls us to? Memorize this verse. It’s incredibly helpful when standing in line at the grocery store with flawless faces staring at you from the magazine rack.
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