Real Beauty Is Found Within

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Prov 31:30 NIV

One of my favorite songs as a child was "If You Want To Be Happy" sung by Jimmy Soul. My mother would sometimes sing it to me. I sang this song to my sons on way more than one occasion when they were teens:

"If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So from my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you."

Okay, I was a little crass. My sons did not really appreciate this song. They didn't appreciate my singing at all! But, having brought them up to know Christ, I wanted them to look deeper than the skin as they attempted to form lasting relationships. It doesn't matter what one looks like on the outside. One really cannot judge a book by its cover. Beauty comes packaged in all shapes and sizes. It shines through much better when the package doesn't have a lot of glitter and glitz covering it.

The fact is that is that God doesn't make ugly. God makes us all beautiful. We are all unique. But, it is wise to find a partner in life that doesn't put his or her looks before their love of the Lord. You will avoid a lot of unnecessary heartache if you look beyond the surface. You may be young and marrying a Christian may not be all that important to you today; but, when you are old and have grown wiser you may find that it would have been much wiser to marry one who knows the Lord and will share your love for Him because your love for Him will grow with time. 

From birth to death our looks will change. Some will stay perpetually young and beautiful according to the eyes of the world thanks to money and good cosmetic surgeons. Actors, actresses, and many politicians depend on this youthful look to further careers. But, because one looks youthful doesn't mean that are honest or have integrity or have any virtues. Youthful beauty does not equate with honesty and trustworthiness or faithfulness. Doesn't mean it can't. It is just wiser to get the real person buried underneath the mask.

Jimmy Soul's song was a pretty silly song. Jimmy started out his life praising the Lord as a young preacher and gospel singer and ended up in prison and dying of a drug related heart attack at age 45. One can never know which path we or anyone else will take through life. It is helpful, for the sake of our eternal lives to find friends and a partner to share our lives with who will fear and praise the Lord.

May we all look past what is on the outside and look a bit deeper for the true beauty as we discern between what is truly good and what is not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

P.S. One of the most beautiful women I have recently met is 100 years old. She has had no cosmetic surgery to make her look eternally young. She is eternally young for she has eternal life in Christ. The Spirit of Christ is with her and it is just awesome to be in their presence.