Day #5 Beautiful Women

It's completely understandable that the world's women are consumed with being beautiful. The health and beauty industry booms with profits and nail and hair salons are one of the few industries that are readily moving into new buildings and taking over the world. For a mere $60-$100 a month your toes and fingers can be beautifully soaked and buffed and filed and painted. But no amount of buffing and painting and dieting and hair color makes a woman beautiful. No amount of pretty pinterest clothing or Mary Kay make-up does a beautiful woman make.


Proverbs 11:22 says:

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.


The Message Paraphrased Bible says it like this:


Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful face on an empty head.

Yep, you got it, without good old fashioned good sense --discretion, a woman is less than beautiful...in fact, she looks rather ridiculous...like a pig...with a gold ring in it's nose. Good sense tells a woman what's appropriate. It filters things before she says them, she contemplates and ponders before she acts, she thinks about the repercussions of her actions, she's wise. She knows what she's talking about, she's confident..yet humble. Her good looks aren't wasted...she balances beauty and brains.


On the contrary, think about the pig...the one with the gold ring in it's nose. It looks hilarious or foolish. You gotta wonder what the owner must have been thinking to waste such a valuable possession on a pig. And yet, God has given women the ability to have good sense, discretion, the ability to make reasonable, wise choices and it doesn't take very many minutes in the local Walmart (or anywhere else) to see that some of the outward beauty that God has given women has been wasted...discretion has taken a backseat to immodest clothing, loud voices, ungodly opinions, boisterous behavior and just plain old stupidity.


God's way to show women their real worth isn't through their outward appearance...although beauty is spoken of over and over in the Bible, it's primary purpose was to direct the reader to inward qualities of value. Proverbs 31 is a primary example of God's picture of a beautiful woman. Instead of great value being put on the woman's outward appearance, He places the value on how she serves her family, spends her money, uses her resources and respects her husband. These are the things that make her beautiful. Unpopular and rare in today's world???....Yes. Sure, she takes care of herself, but her real value is that she has discretion...she can make good decisions, weighty decisions that impact her family and others.


What a lesson to women today...to me...as a woman, wife and a mother of a young tween. Our beauty, while lovely to look at, should come second to being discreet, wise, and modest. Otherwise you look like a pig...with a ring in its nose...and last time I checked...no woman ever wanted to look like a pig.

What a challenge for us to be walking in this world full of beauty enhancing products. However, getting into God's word and finding out what He thinks is beautiful should take priority over beautification products and services this world offers. Popular opinion- No. But then again, I'm pretty sure when God works on the inside...the outside is changed. So you might just be surprised at what God's makeover looks like on you!