The Beauty of the Spirit

When a designer sends a model down a fashion runway, he or she is concerned with the model’s total look. The model isn’t just wearing the designer’s garment. The designer has usually spent a great deal of time and effort in selecting the proper accessories, instructing the models in how to walk, turn, and carry themselves, and creating the overall environment in which to show off the designs. And so it is with our God. He created you as a composite. He gave you certain talents, features, and personality traits. Then He added a variety of emotional responeses and spiritual gifts. He was concerned with the overall, total you. He designed you to be a vibrant, thinking, feeling, fully functioning person with a unique attractiveness. He decorated you with far more than physical attributes. God made you with flesh-an outer appearance. God has blessed you with creativity and an apprectation for beauty. You can and should recognize your appearance as an area in which you can express yourself to the glory of God. But the outer you dosen’t replace the need for the inner you. The inner you doesn’t negate the need for the outer you. You must have balance. Remember that your inner qualities are eternal and, therefore, more important. The inner qualities should give rise to the outer ones. In other words, it is who you are on the inside that should define what you choose to do with your outside. The woman who is confident in the Lord might choose to wear a $1.50 dress she finds at the local thrft shop or a $150 dress she buys at an upscale department store. She is confident either way. Her looks don’t determine her character. The greater part of your beauty cannot be bought, taken off a rack, applied like lipstick, or put on like a hat. The greater part of your attractiveness lies within; it wells up from the inside and finds an appropritate creative expression on the outside. That’s what Peter meant when he wrote that the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit has a great price in the sight of God(see 1 Peter 3:4) God sees what no one else can see. And it’s that part of you that He values most.
Your beauty should not come from outward adorment, such as elaborte hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4
This is from the Woman Thou art Loosed Holy Bible by T.D.Jakes
Wishing you Good Health, Life & Strength
Robin