The Imperishable Beauty of a Gentle and Quiet Spirit
But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious (1 Peter 3:4, ESV)
We are acquainted with physical beauty, as well as material riches. However, there is spiritual beauty just as there are spiritual riches. The Apostle Peter gives us a remarkable insight above into spiritual beauty. First, he makes an analogy between the physical beauty of the body and its outward ornaments and spiritual beauty of the human spirit and its virtues. When you look at a physically beautiful woman, for example, you are seeing the physical qualities of her physical appearance. When God looks at the human spirit, He also sees spiritual qualities that beautify a person’s spirit.
The scripture above gives us two of such qualities that beautify the human spirit. They are gentleness and quietness. You will immediately identify these two qualities as two of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5:22-23 ( gentleness and peace). Spiritual virtues beautify the human spirit. Think of a believer whose life is filled with the fruit of the spirit and imagine how beautiful they look in the spirit! It should come as no surprise that the Lord places more value in the beauty of the spirit than of the body. Since we do not see people’s hearts as God does, we tend to put all of our value on physical beauty that our natural eyes can see. It is no wonder why there is such disproportionate attention to the physical body in the world today.
Peter was addressing Christian woman in the verse above. He did not say women should despise their bodies or outward appearance. Instead, he urges them to make spiritual beauty their priority rather than physical appearance. When physical beauty meets beauty of the heart in a woman there is glory! The man who marries such a woman has a foretaste of heaven on earth! If you are a married man, you will immediately recognize the surpassing value of the beauty of the heart over physical beauty. You cannot simply marry a woman because she is physically beautiful without regard to the beauty of her heart otherwise you run the risk of ruining not only your life but your God’s destiny for your life. If these things are important to us, then they are certainly more important to God.
The Lord wants us to beautify our inner man with the fruit of the Spirit.
MEDITATE
Think for a moment on the meaning of the beauty of the spirit. What are the qualities that adorn the human spirit? ( Gal. 5:22-23)
APPLY THE WORD
Do you pay attention to the condition of your heart or spirit? The Lord says gentleness and a quiet( untroubled) spirit are of great value to Him. Always have your beautiful spiritual garments on, looking lovely in the spirit, and of course not neglecting the body!
PRAY
Ask the Lord for the grace to grow in the fruit of the Spirit.
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