from Lenae, GEMS Training Manager
TRUE BEAUTY
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Proverbs 31:30
It’s a joy to witness something come full circle. There are heartwarming moments like I experienced at our annual Widows’ Tea with our GEMS Club when the seasoned saint who founded our local club a few decades ago gave me a hug of thanks. She knew what it was to be on the giving end of GEMS and now she’s blessed to be on the receiving side. There are also humorous full-circle occasions like when my mom gifted me a small plaque that reads, “By the time a woman realizes her mother was right . . . she usually has a daughter, who thinks she’s wrong . . .” Full circle indeed!
In the final chapter of Proverbs we see the book’s theme come full circle. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised (31:30). This verse directs us to the book’s starting point and the theme of Proverbs: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (9:10).
Proverbs begins and ends with the fear of the LORD. The first and last word of this divine book of wisdom is to rightly reverence God in a manner that is worthy of His Name!
If you’re like me, you need look no further than your bedroom mirror to verify that beauty is fleeting. Nail polish chips. Skin sags. Bones lose density and memories wane. Although outer beauty is fleeting, it’s still essential to care for the bodies God entrusted to us. They’re temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Proverbs 5:15-19 instructs the man to delight in his wife’s body. It’s good and fitting that God’s girls eat right, exercise, and smell sweet for His glory and praise.
Our physical appearance is important, but it must always come secondary to the true beauty and strength of our heart. As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart (27:19). The heart is where God’s eye is drawn first (1 Samuel 16:7)!
The source of true beauty is the posture of our heart:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart (3:5)
Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (4:23)
The wise in heart accept commands (10:8)
The LORD tests the heart (17:3)
The LORD weighs the heart (21:2)
Keep your heart on the right path (23:19)
The praise that matters most isn’t given to cover models, but to the woman whose heart rightly reverences and obeys God: the woman who fears the LORD (31:30).
Wisdom Step: What is the posture of your heart today?
[When I first read the description of the Proverbs 31 woman] I thought out loud, “Wow! That’s the kind of woman I want to be! Ever since then, to me, that’s what it has really meant to be ‘a beautiful woman.’”
Kim Boyce
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