The Formula of Beauty
Cy.yxgov;yan Ca.dniku
1 Peter 3:3-4
When I was in Kindergarten,
there was a cute story in our Armenian reading textbook. It was about a little boy who was lost in the
city and was running around to look for his mother. Some people stopped by, comforted him and
asked, “Who is your mother? What does she look like?” The little boy, who could hardly stop crying,
said, “Find the most beautiful woman; that’s my mother.”
Every woman would like to be
called “the most beautiful.” In fact,
women and beauty are sometimes inseparable.
Interestingly enough, women
have always cared a lot about the way they look. Almost
a thousand years before Christ, when there were no shopping malls, women
adorned themselves with bangles, headbands, crescent
necklaces, earrings, bracelets, veils, headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume bottles charms, signet rings, nose rings, fine robes, capes, cloaks,
purses, mirrors, linen garments, tiaras and shawls (Isaiah 3 :18-21). What a list!
Not much has changed
through the centuries. A contemporary
list of beauty supplies (a Google search will yield 71 million results) would
include similar items as well as some more sophisticated hi-tech innovations.
We all know that
outward beauty fades. However, let us
admit that if is very easy to get carried away by outward appearances and
forget what is generally called “inner beauty.”
It seems women in
the early Christian church needed some guidelines about dress and adornment. Just like us, these women had met Christ, had
become “new creatures” in Him, and wanted to live godly lives. Both Paul and Peter tackled the issue in their
letters.
I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety,
not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women
who profess to worship God (1 Tim 2:9-10).
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as
braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead,
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).
Please note “but”
and “instead.” Since in Christ we are
“new creatures”, we are given new ornaments to make us beautiful: good deeds, a gentle and quiet spirit.
After meeting Christ, the
inner self needs a total makeover and will be eligible for it only if agree to
take off our ornaments, our makeup and our “masks.” You cannot go for a makeover but insist on
keeping everything as it is.
The formula of inner beauty,
the unfading beauty of the inner self lies in the
mind. John Stott says, “What we sow in
our minds we reap in our actions. It is not enough to know what we should be. We must go further and set our minds upon it.” If
we want to be beautiful, we need to set our minds upon beautiful things, we
need to have the mind of Christ.
“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things” (Phil.
4:8).
Any woman who
constantly disciplines her thoughts to focus in whatever is true, noble, right,
pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy will undoubtedly be the
most beautiful.
“Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in
me,
All His wonderful passion and
purity;
O Thou Spirit Divine, all my nature refine,
Tell the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.”